Not Your Average Doctor
by Fogdragon23
Summary: "I just like SIDRAT better, TARDIS is so self-explanatory and boring. SIDRAT is like me; charming, noble, nice dresser, and really close to ginger." Picks up right where Season 2 leaves off. Rating may be subject to change because of Jack.
1. Chapter 1

Not Your Average Doctor

by fogdragon23

Disclaimer: I do not own the copyright to Doctor Who. It is property of the BBC. Please support the official release. Thank you.

* * *

Chapter 1

So this was it, he was gone. Rose was never going to see him again. All their adventures together were only going to become more and more distant until eventually she would forget that it was even real. Renewed tears swelled up into her eyes as her thoughts reduced her to a sobbing mess. She couldn't even begin to think how to restart her life, the world was so big and yet so small. He helped her realize that. She rose one of her hands to her mouth, trying to cover her trembling lips before she turned and darted for her mother. There was no need to stay here on this depressing beach, she hoped never to see it again and in an instant, she didn't. Her head collided with something tall and soft, everything went black for a moment.

* * *

His senses woke abruptly, brown eyes flashing wide open. Where was he? How'd he get here? And why was Rose faceplanting into his chest? The strong scent of the ocean prickled his nose. Oh, wait that's right! "Hello again, Rose," he said with utmost certainty.

Rose blinked up at him, tears streaking her face. "You came back! You found a way to come back for me!"

The Doctor cupped her shoulders with the palms of his hands and he guided her back a step. "No, no, no, no, no! Hm, how to explain me, uh, I," he patted the his chest for emphasis which earned a confused look from the blonde. "I...no, that's too complicated. Here, look at my SIDRAT," he motioned with a hand toward the police box behind him.

A sound came from Rose that betrayed shock and confusion as she gazed at what he indicated. "SIDRAT...it's _orange_?! Your ship is _orange_!"

The Doctor couldn't help a smile at her indignant face. The expression resembled the face a child makes when they learn their parents have names besides 'Mom' and 'Dad'. He loved human reaction, it was so refreshing. "I'm not your regular Doctor, Rose. I am this dimension's Doctor if you can wrap your mind around it. This is my SIDRAT and it's orange because this is a parallel dimension. Follow?"

Her tears were drying, giving way to wonder and curiosity. "Is that why the name is backwards?"

"Name?" The Doctor turned to look at the police box reflectively. "I just like SIDRAT better, TARDIS is so self-explanatory and _boring_. SIDRAT is like me; charming, noble, nice dresser, and really close to ginger."

"Still on the ginger bit?" she mocked, finally smiling.

"I have my reasons," he defended.

"Okay, then my name. How do you know my name?"

The Doctor scratched the back on his head nervously. "Well, I...may have had overexposure to the time vortex once or twice." He looked thoughtful, "Five times? Side effects include peeking into other dimensions, I guess."

"This is _unbelievable_. You're the Doctor but," she shook her head defeatedly, "you're not my Doctor."

"I can be, that is to say, I'm here to give you another swing at this time-traveling thing. If you so chose," he stood on his tiptoes to see over the other. "Or you can stay with your family...and Mickey, and live happily ever after." He was positively certain she'd choose him, there was so much mystery and adventuring ahead of them. What could possibly hold her back? It wasn't like they wouldn't visit from time to time.

Rose stared back at him suddenly looking steadfast and it made his hearts skip a beat or two . "I was already given a second chance at life. I don't know that I can throw away everything you- ...he did for me."

He wanted to kick his parallel self for being so irritating to himself. "I can give you a tour, if you like. I promise, it's bigger on the inside."

"No, Doctor. I want to stay."

"I even have a butler you should mee- hwa, stay? Here? Forever?" It didn't add up. He had everything that Doctor had; the looks, the police box, the nice hair, the crazy shoes. Maybe he wasn't rude enough. He dug into his coat's chest pocket and produced the sonic screwdriver. "Are you feeling ill? Maybe there's some residual void matter messing with your head," he flashed the device at her, checking for anything unusual. "No void matter traces but looks like the time vortex might be causing interference, I'll have to check it on board. Come! You are now my patient!" He ignored her stubborn cries as he pulled her into the bright orange police box much to her parents' and Mickey's confusion and dismay.

* * *

"I told you, I'm staying with my parents!" she protested as the door of the SIDRAT closed behind her. "You are just so infuriating sometimes! Let me back out!" Then she was sitting on a table with some sort of blue light shining in her eyes. The light was so intense that it took a while for her to notice it came from a black nozzle that belonged to some sort of gold metallic being. Her eyes widened in fear. "Dalek!" she shrilled in its face. "Let me go! What have you done with the Doctor!? Doctor!?"

"RELAX," the dalek commanded in a familiar monotone.

She kicked at the armored alien and was rewarded with a deep clanging sound from its headpiece when her foot connected. "Show me the Doctor _now_!" She hoped her tone was rough enough, that the dalek would feel some inch of fear, that it would stop shining that stupid light in her eyes.

"CONTROL THE ROSE TYLER PATIENT!"

The Doctor entered her sights again as he emerged from behind the SIDRAT's many consoles. He had some odd looking goggles on now, they completely covered his eyes and effectively made him look like a humanoid bug. She'd laugh if there wasn't a dalek two feet from her. "Doctor, a dalek!"

The time lord looked from her to the dalek and back at her, completely unperturbed. In fact it was the dalek that responded to her first, "EPSILON."

Rose paused recalling her schooling, "'Five'? What does that mean?" she asked with dread. Maybe these other dimension daleks had a code they used for some sort of self-destruct program. She was prepared to jump off this table and run if she needed to.

"I AM UNIT EPSILON, FIELD ENGINEER FOR THE DALEKS."

"And how do _you_ know my name?" Everyone seemed to know her name in the dimension, it was unsettling.

The dalek swiveled it's head toward the Doctor. "DOCTOR TOLD ME OF ROSE TYLER WHEN THE VORTEX BEGAN LEAKING. SOME THINGS I CANNOT MAKE SENSE OF..."

"That's enough explaining I think," the Doctor interjected, as he stepped closer to the table. "Now lets have a look at this anomaly." His hands grabbed at the air by Rose's head, looking more crazy than anything. His mouth shaped into a very thoughtful 'O'.

Rose shook her head disbelieving. "So daleks are good here, that's just _wrong_."

"DALEKS ARE NOT PROGRAMMED WITH HUMAN CONCEPTS OF GOOD AND EVIL," Epsilon corrected, its lens turning back to her. "I AM NOT LIKE ALL DALEK. ENGINEER UNITS DO NOT KILL, THEY FIX. EPSILON FIXES." Slots that Rose was sure couldn't move on daleks she encountered, did and tiny robotic arms emerged from them, too small and fragile looking to be dangerous. She noticed this dalek lacked a death ray, the compartment was closed off by a tiny double door and was that a tiny bow on its chest? A dalek with semblance of fashion, she quietly wondered if that was an oxymoron.

She pieced together what the dalek said, "So...dalek are still dangerous but you are a field worker?"

"AFFIRMATIVE," the dalek nodded with its single eye in a fashion that reminded her vaguely of K9. She never in her wildest dreams thought she'd be able compare the two. "CALL ME EPSILON." Epsilon withdrew its small mechanical arms as if it understood the extra appendages made it appear threatening.

The Doctor supplied his own helpful commentary, "I found Epsilon on a refuse planet some years back. He was wandering aimlessly and rebuilding bits and pieces of himself. Won't tell me too much about what happened though."

"WHAT HAPPENED IS IRRELEVANT. THE DOCTOR GAVE ME ORDERS AND I FOLLOWED THEM," the dalek remarked hollowly.

"I keep his hands full now. He works as my butler, maid, cook, engineer, everything really," the Doctor added, responding to questions that weren't even asked. "Am I getting lazy?"

"Wait, but the Time War! That still happened, right? Doesn't that make you hate the dalek?" Rose knew it was a difficult topic but wasn't expecting Epsilon's lens to change color, from a clear blue into a heated red. She quickly regretted saying anything on the subject.

"We will speak of this on a different day, Rose," the Doctor deflected. "Suffice to say, the Time War left scars on both the dalek and the Time Lords."

Epsilon's eye slowly shifted back to blue. Rose became instantly curious on if different colors represented different feelings in the dalek. Was this common in other dalek of this dimension?

"Okay, I think I can deal with this," she said more to herself than the others in the room. "So um, can I ask what you are doing, Doctor?" His hands treading the air near her head was becoming more and more unsettling.

"Nothing much to be concerned about," the Doctor reassured, his mouth was fixed in a concentrated line. "Just trying to dispel these traces of the time vortex. They are slippery little buggers though. My guess is that they feel they need to fulfill something."

"Like what?" she asked. She had her fill of Bad Wolf the first time, there was no need to revisit the feelings the vortex poured into her. It forced her to feel powerful, loving, detached and so lonely, like she had no equal. Even the Doctor seemed insignificant to her and that's what scared her the most. The Doctor was her closest friend and companion, yet she as Bad Wolf felt nothing when he warned her of the dangers.

The Doctor shook his head. "I'm not sure. Space and time just kind of sporadically do things to keep everything running smoothly. What ever it needs now involves you, that's for sure."

"And you expect me to not be concerned about it? That's laughable." More than anything Rose wanted off this table and back to her family. "Not to be rude but how long are you going to keep me here? I have a life to get back to, you know."

The Doctor sighed. He moved the goggles to his forehead, where they made his hair spike up more than usual, "You aren't a very good patient, are you? Fine, I will let you go back to your life, like you want, but me and Epsilon will be keeping an eye on you until the particles wear off, all right? Incognito, of course."

"I AM OPPOSED TO THIS IDEA. HER CURRENT STATUS MAKES HER DANGEROUS TO THE POPULACE." The dalek backed away from the table, placing itself between her and the exit. "I WILL FIX THE PROBLEM WITH TIME. GRANT ME PERMISSION AND I CAN HELP ROSE TYLER."

"Now don't be stubborn," the Doctor reasoned. "Rose made it plain that she doesn't want to be here. I'm not going to hold her against her will."

"DALEK DO NOT POSSESS SUCH INFERIOR SENTIMENTS! I WILL FIX WHAT'S BROKEN!"

"DALEKS OBEY ORDERS!" the Doctor snapped, his eyes wide with sudden fury. A silence fell between the three of them. The Doctor's tone lowered almost apologetically, "Let her go."

"I OBEY." The dalek scooted away from the doorway slowly as if it was truly torn between following orders and its own feelings.


	2. Chapter 2

**Not Your Average Doctor**

by fogdragon23

Disclaimer: I do not own the copyright to Doctor Who. It is property of the BBC. Please support the official release. Thank you.

* * *

Chapter 2

"I thought you were going to set off again," Rose's mother confessed as her daughter stepped off the oddly-colored police box.

The Doctor made a crack through the door and peeked out. He could see one parent and part of Mickey's nose if he leaned to the right. The tide out there was a bit higher than he remembered, that was going to be a problem if he dawdled too long.

"No, I think I'm done with travelling for now," Rose said, sounding cheery.

Mickey, on the other hand, didn't sound happy with her answer. "Funny, I thought the Doctor was supposed to be stranded, right? How's he here and when did he paint his box?"

The Doctor opened the door all the way and revealed himself to the others. "I have an answer to that, and the answer is roughly ten years ago. As for me, I'm not exactly the Doctor you used to know but I will gladly take over where he left off."

"Frankly, I'm not sure I follow," Mickey stated flatly. He was going to be a hard guy to convince but the Doctor knew his other-self was in good standing. Friendship and trust only came with time.

"You don't believe me, do you? Let's see, you made that website about me. What was it? Um, 'Who is Doctor Who?'. It was a very attractive website, I loved the layout, but I wish to be known as The Doctor not Doctor Who, I know it's easy to confuse. Good show for changing it later though, very thoughtful of you."

"Aren't you supposed to tell me something only I would know to prove yourself?" Mickey asked incredulously. He crossed his arms in obvious disapproval.

The Doctor put up a finger. "You have a point but I haven't actually met you until now. I only have vague impressions that the vortex implanted into me the last time it had a little oopsie. That and your public website." He extended his hand in a friendly manner, "Nice to meet you, I'm the Doctor."

Jackie elbowed her daughter gently in the ribs as the other two engaged in a very awkward handshake. "Had a little fall on his head, did he?" she whispered. "Um," she raised her voice so that each word could be heard clearly by the others, "we have decided to have a little vacation while we are here. Do you want to join us, Doctor?"

The Doctor slowly shook his head, this was getting ridiculous, even for him. "Well... I wouldn't want to but-in on your family get together. I can meet you back home and work from there. What were you planning, a week? Two weeks? I'm free anytime really."

"We were planning a week if there's no incidents," Jackie answered, helpfully. The Doctor could see she was being cautious and he couldn't blame her after all they had been through.

"Where is the noble father anyway?" the Doctor asked, looking about. He squinted at the car and gave a wave, "There is the fine sir. What's he doing?"

"He went back to the car for the camera," Jackie explained. "Wanted to take a few for memory's sake. What with our new life and all, we need to begin somewhere."

Rose looked more bothered than happy about the situation. "I don't think I need any from here. This beach is nothing but dreary memories." A hand migrated to her shoulder and she looked up into the calming face of Mickey. They didn't utter a word to each other but it was obvious there was a silent conversation going on between them.

Pete emerged from the vehicle, holding the camera with an air of triumph. His bright expression lifted when Jackie shouted back to him that they were leaving soon. This family was a bundle of cute human reaction and the Doctor was loving every minute of it, but there was that pesky tide rolling in that had to be dealt with. "Guess I will leave you all alone for a week. See you all at home," he dismissed as he carefully closed the SIDRAT's doors behind him. He heard a small 'Goodbye Doctor' from Rose before he shut away the outside world.

* * *

The time lord turned back to the core of the SIDRAT and Epsilon was at its consoles, typing long strings of code that took up the whole monitor. "WE ARE ACCUMILATING MOISTURE AT A DISTRESSING RATE. IN TEN MINUTES WE WILL SET SAIL. I SUGGEST WE LEAVE PRESENTLY."

"Patience, Epsilon. I have pilot controls to...pilot." The Doctor began twisting and turning various knobs and dials in random order. "Hm, what does that do again?" The whole SIDRAT shook in response, "Oh wind control! Marvelous!" He ran over to a different apparatus and started to pump it by a thin handle. He kept his eyes on the monitors as he proceeded. "Good, good, good. The readings are checking out."

The dalek tried to correct some of the knobs that he turned way too far, "I HAVE DOWNLOADED THE MANUAL TO NAVIGATE THIS MODEL OF SHIP. I AM MORE THAN QUALIFIED TO...AHHHHHHH!" The SIDRAT gave a heavy shake that almost threw both Doctor and Epsilon off the controls.

"No worries, I have all the directions we need in here," the Doctor pointed at his own head, his eyes looking a little wilder than usual as he pressed stray buttons. "One last thing," he pulled out his sonic screwdriver and aimed it at a stubborn circuit, "Allons-y." The screwdriver fired it's blue beam, temporarily scrambling the console circuit so that it was completely bypassed.

* * *

The SIDRAT plopped itself in front of Pete Tyler's residence as if it was a perfect fit on his front lawn. The police box let out couple more roars of melodiously gruesome grinding before the doors opened and revealed the Doctor. "We look to be in the right place and in the daytime. Very good," he observed loudly to the dalek behind him. The place was a mirror of Rose's home in the other dimension, not a grass blade out of place. "I think it would be best if you stayed here. No offense intended, of course."

Epsilon's lens studied the outside world very briefly. "THIS IS PERMISSIBLE. HOWEVER, YOU SHOULD BE AWARE THAT THE CONDITION OF YOUR SONIC SCREWDRIVER IS WANING."

The Doctor inspected the device in question, spinning it between his fingers. "_Again_?" The sonic object was becoming more and more of a bother lately, not keeping a charge worth a damn. "Blimey, I need to work on getting a new one. Alright then, Episilon, I will leave it in your care. Just make sure I get it back in less than two pieces." It passed from hand to holding apparatus before the Doctor spun on his heel to face the walkway leading to the residence.

He produced a pair of sunglasses from his many pocketed coat and placed them over his brown eyes as he neared the entrance. Eagerness overcame him as he pressed the doorbell, hearing its muffled tones through the solid door. One moment passed, then two, then three. He began to doubt that the Tylers even lived here at all as he impatiently rocked on his heels. Then the door clicked open slowly and the Doctor's eyes about fell out of his head upon seeing the resident that opened the door, "Hwhat?!"

Suspicious green eyes peered back at him. "Pardon? Do I know you?" The one who answered was a woman but not Rose or Jackie or anyone he could recall. She looked him over, up then down, with a very unimpressed frown, "Not a salesperson are you? I can tell you and your boys where to stick your products."

The Doctor ran his hand through his own hair. "I...you...you're not Rose Tyler." He looked up the street like it would give him an explanation to how this happened. Nothing else seemed out of place, people where driving by in their cars and the neighbor kids were playing just up the street. Everything was normal seeming and that was the most unsettling part. Where did the SIDRAT go? The orange time machine was nowhere in sight. He turned back to the matter at hand, "You don't know if a Rose Tyler lives around these parts? About yay tall, blond hair, cute smile when she gets going..."

The stranger paused to think. She was in her thirties with a head of marvelously red hair that began to curl toward the tips. Her lightly lipsticked mouth skewed into a displeased expression, "Listen, sir, I don't know a Rose Tyler and I would appreciate it if you stepped off my property with your expensive looking glasses and such."

He bowed his head disarmingly, "I'm very sorry if I caused you any inconvenience, Miss...uh...?"

"Donna. Donna Noble, if you must bother," she answered very sharply.

Images splashed across the Doctor's mind as he was forced to recall previous visions from the time stream. It made his mind pulse and ache in his head. He placed a hand on the back of it to nurse the pain, and what was that incessant ringing? "Wait...what?" This was where he thought Rose lived, in fact he was certain. Was the heart of the SIDRAT pulling his leg again?

"A bit hurt, aren't you?" Donna queried, sounding more worried than insulting. "Need a doctor?"

"No, I am one," he responding, getting a very confused look from the woman as he straightened himself. The ringing began to subside in his head. "Listen, um, can I use your phone to call up one of my buddies? I think I've had a little too much to drink today."

Donna looked a bit beside herself, not sure if she should let a stranger in her house even for an instant. "Um, well fine but I'm staying by you so no funny stuff," she pulled the door open the rest of the way and motioned him to come in.

They both stepped into the lobby as Donna busied herself with showing him the closest phone. He realized that the inside didn't match his impression of what Rose's place looked like. Maybe he was on the wrong street and this was all a misunderstanding. The phone happened to be in the coat room on a small decorative end table. She motioned toward it with a hand, "There you are, Doctor, um...what was your name?"

"Just the Doctor please," he affirmed. It had been awhile since he had used a human phone line. There were so few numbers, it was a wonder that these devices could reach all the way around the world if you dialed the right group of buttons. "Can I get some papers and a pen?" he asked.

"Sure, it'll only take a moment. Don't do anything funny," she said, ducking into the next room briefly.

The Doctor took that moment to dig into his front pocket, forgetting he had left the sonic screwdriver with Epsilon. He patted the empty pocket twice, suddenly feeling very naked and vulnerable to everything in the universe. "Hm, on second thought Donna I'll just walk to the bus and get a ride there," he yelled, hoping she could hear.

"But I got a pen," she answered, walking up behind him.

The time lord spun around, ready to politely receive what she held in her hand. It had the same general shape of a pen yet he knew this object was an old alien technology that he used pretty regularly. "That's a very odd looking pen. Where'd you get it?"

"From the store," she said like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Where else would you procure a pen, Doctor?"

The Doctor stared wide-eyed at the sonic screwdriver she held so innocently.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

by fogdragon23

Disclaimer: I do not own the copyright to Doctor Who. It is property of the BBC. Please support the official release. Thank you.

* * *

The afternoon seemed like any other for Rose as she poured over her favorite book. Mickey had just left for the grocery store and her father was still away at work. Her mother was downstairs, and by the muffled talking she could hear, Rose guessed she was on the phone with one of her friends. Their meeting with the Doctor wasn't forgotten but she had thoroughly convinced herself that he was going to be late for at least another day, if the original Doctor's driving skills were any example. Another two pages flipped by before she heard a very alarming thud from down the stairs. "Rose! Rooooose!" came her mother's cry.

Rose got up automatically and rushed for the stairs. Perhaps her dad was early home from work or maybe Mickey had returned, but then why would she sound so desperate? "What's up?" she asked quickly as she descended, not sure what feelings this summon required.

"You best peek through the window," her mother whispered back when she reached the front room. The cordless phone hung limply in one of her hands as she stared back at her daughter with fear. "I don't want to jump to conclusions but I think one of those metal men is at the door!"

Taken aback, Rose peeked through a curtained window. She mentally congratulated herself for being brave enough to even look out the window despite the terrible dryness at the back of her throat. The first glance of golden metal was all she needed to know what the 'metal man' was. Their doorbell rang its happy tones once, then twice. Whatever was at the door evidently started leaning against the button, driving the two Tylers almost bonkers with the cacophony of happy noises. 'On the plus side, it's not trying to break down the door,' Rose thought. She collected herself and looked to her mother for support, "I'm going to open it."

"What?!" her mother exclaimed, sounding hoarse as if she believed the thing outside the door could hear through wood. "We could get out a back window and make a dash for it."

"I think it's one of the Doctor's friends," Rose shared. "I met a dalek on his TARDIS...SIDRAT. It wasn't dangerous." She wanted to be as sure as she sounded but if it was the Doctor's friend, where was the Doctor? Surely he knew the dangers of letting a dalek wander out in the open.

Her mother's jaw dropped open. "This one carries a dalek?! He's crazier than the other one! They kill people!"

Rose gathered her courage and grabbed the door's knob. "Shh! I'm opening it." She couldn't let a dalek run around loose in London even if it was a companion of the Doctor's. Her mother seemed ready to faint but she stayed with her daughter, despite the fear in her face. Quietly, they began to count together so as not to be overheard, "One, two, three..."

Rose yanked the door open and they both hid behind opposite sides of the door, waiting for lasers to be shot and exclamations of 'EXTERMINATE' that never came. Thankfully, the tones of the doorbell died as the alien at the door stopped pressing the button. Silence filled the room. The only thing Rose could hear over her own heartbeat was a low humming she knew accompanied the presence of a dalek.

"I REQUIRE SPEAKING TO THE AUTHORITY OF THIS RESIDENCE," boomed the alien's monotone voice.

Rose was not sure if she was really ready to face the terror at her door. She began to understand another part of the genius of having millions of bloodthirsty soldiers with the same voice; not only did it rid them of human emotion but one could never tell them apart. If this wasn't Epsilon, their house had just turned into a deathtrap. She licked her dry lips before answering, "Only if you mean us no harm."

"I IDENTIFY THIS HUMAN VOICE SIGNATURE AS ROSE TYLER. WE HAVE MET BEFORE SEVEN DAYS, TWO HOURS, AND THIRTY-THREE MINUTES AGO. I AM EPSILON OF THE EPSILON UNIT AND I ASK FOR YOUR ASSISTANCE, ROSE TYLER."

Rose caught the gaze of her mother and she nodded to reassure her before stepping in front of the dalek. "How can we help you?" The scene laid out before her felt comical. To a passerby, it appeared the Tyler's had just acquired some sort of joke gift to go with their unique garden ornament.

The blue light in Epsilon's lens shrank and grew, making the alien appear confused. "WE? WHO PARTNERS WITH ROSE TYLER TO ASSIST ME?"

"My mother is here," Rose said, giving her best calm and helpful voice. "She wants to help too."

Jackie peered around the door frame and quickly hid again. "I don't know if I can do this. People died because of those things."

The younger woman stood firm, "He doesn't have their horrible death rays. Unless he plans to run our toes over, I don't think he can harm us."

Epsilon shook its metal head. "I HAVE NO INTEREST IN RUNNING OVER TOES." It backed away from the front door, leading them to the SIDRAT. "DURING OUR TRAVEL TO YOUR CURRENT TIMELINE THE DOCTOR COLLAPSED INSIDE THE SIDRAT. I HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO WAKE HIM BUT MY READINGS INDICATE THAT HE IS IN A STATE OF SLEEP."

"That doesn't sound so bad," Rose remarked as she strolled after the dalek. "He probably needs a good rest. Though I don't recall seeing him sleep...ever," she joked. She felt the presence of her mother behind her, shadowing her movements so that she didn't have to be close to the dalek.

"THE DOCTOR HAS A VERY STRICT SLEEP SCHEDULE THAT HE FOLLOWS. THIS INSTANCE IS UNPRECEDENTED." The metal engineer reached the lip of the SIDRAT that separated the police box from the ground. Small robotic hands slipped out of the slats that decorated the dalek's middle. One of them proudly held a spare key that it used to open the door of the time machine. "ELEVATE!" The dalek's humming grew in volume as Epsilon began to hover into the portal of the SIDRAT.

Seeing a dalek do this from a non-threatening perspective was very eerie for Rose. She could only imagine that she was one of the few humans ever to see into the day to day life of a dalek without threat of extermination.

When she stepped into the cover of the SIDRAT, Rose suddenly understood that she had previously taken a few thoughts for granted. She thought the Doctor was going to be tucked away into a bed somewhere comfortable with pillows and blankets, like a normal person. The reality was he had no place to sleep other than the chair by the consoles, and he was not in the chair. In fact, she nearly stepped on him before she realized he was sprawled haphazardly on the floor. Her second realization came when she slowly crouched down to touch his shoulder. Her fingers grazed the fabric of his coat for a ghost of a second before she pulled it away. Something was wrong, he didn't feel right at all. He was tense, so tense that the hardness of his muscles could be felt through his layers of clothing. He felt almost like a statue; a living, breathing statue. "Doctor," she said shakily, hating to see him reduced to this. So what if he wasn't her Doctor. He needed her help. "Doctor, wake up."

"THAT WILL NOT WORK," Epsilon offered. It had hovered over the Doctor's body to check the readings on the SIDRAT. The sound of typing followed it's statement as the SIDRAT's core pulsated and glowed like it always had. How ironic that the ship showed more life than its captain. "SAMPLES OF SOMETHING ONBOARD EFFECTING HIM ARE STILL NEGATIVE. HIS VITALS ARE READING NORMAL WITH OCCASIONAL ELEVATIONS TO HIS HEARTRATES. OVERALL DANGER TO THE DOCTOR IS STILL UNKNOWN."

"How long has he been like this?" Rose questioned.

The dalek's head spun all the way around to face her. This caused a shiver to run up her spine. "FOUR HOURS IN YOUR TIME, ONE IN MINE." The metallic head swiveled back to the monitors.

"Not very helpful is he," Jackie commented dryly as she worried over the other two humanoids. "We could bring him inside our home, we have beds at least. He'll catch a draft in here on the floor."

"I think it's the least we can do," Rose agreed.

* * *

Between them, the two women managed to carry the sleeping Doctor on their own with the dalek carefully observing their every move. Rose held his shoulders while her mother took his legs. The alien was quiet for most of the way, only complaining when they had to bring the Doctor to the guest room upstairs.

"I SURMISE THAT IT WOULD BE MOST ADEQUATE TO BRING THE BED TO THE BOTTOM FLOOR FOR OBSERVATION PURPOSES," Epsilon insisted. It stood at the very bottom of the stairs, not daring to hover its way up for reasons Rose was unsure of. With her hands full of the Doctor she didn't dare question it.

Her mother began showing signs that she was warming up to the wartime alien, entering her two-cents here and there. "That wouldn't do at all, little old me trying to get that big old thing down here! I'd be a very flat human!"

"IMPOSSIBLE! HUMANS ARE VERY HARD TO FLATTEN," Epsilon quipped.

Jackie smiled at her daughter mischievously as they reached the top of the stairs, "Bet he knows that from personal experience."

This earned a predicted rebuttal from the dalek. "I DO NOT KILL! EPSILON FIXES!"

Epsilon's reaction produced a fit of giggles from the two humans. "Don't worry," Rose persuaded after a couple more mirthful giggles, "we'll join you down there in a bit." She continued to back her way into the guest room despite the dalek's commentary. If she were to say the dalek had an emotion, it'd be worry. Despite it not having a visible body, Rose was beginning to read and interpret some of Epsilon's movements.

Returning her attention to the task at hand, Rose helped softly roll the Doctor onto the bed. Vaguely, she was reminded of when he...well the real Doctor passed out from his last regeneration. He gave her the first taste of not needing a hero to save the day, to be independent. Was this one the same way? She had only met him briefly and during that time he felt like the same person. A bit more eccentric than the other in color choices but who was she to judge? Yet something about the two Doctor's being so similar still made her uncomfortable.

"I don't know what to do or how, but I will take care of the box of bolts downstairs," Jackie clarified as she put her hand on her daughter's shoulder. "Just don't forget to come down and eat when your father comes home. If uh, if the Doctor manages to wake from this in the meantime, he is welcome to dinner as well," she added before exiting for the stairs.

Rose spared moment to tuck him under blankets before sitting down next to him. "Doctor," she started, "I don't know what's happening or why but...I want you to know, I'm right here."


	4. Chapter 4

**Not Your Average Doctor**

by fogdragon23

Disclaimer: I do not own the copyright to Doctor Who. It is property of the BBC. Please support the official release. Thank you.

* * *

**Chapter 4**

"This really doesn't make any sense," Donna said in frustration as she paced her living room floor.

"Yeah, tell me about it," the Doctor replied, falling back into one of her decorative chairs. He had long since put away his sunglasses, to put some weight in the pocket that normally held his sonic screwdriver. The lack of his trusty implement made him feel uneasy. "In fact, I'd say this was pretty impossible until this point." He pulled a pillow that was nestled between his back and the cushion of the chair to play catch with himself.

The redhead crossed her arms as she tried to sort her thoughts. "So you are a space doctor that travels through time, fighting baddies, and you're looking for a young woman that you vaguely know, because your parallel life dumped her on you. Oh, your time machine is missing in my front lawn and I have your special screwdriver thing."

"Sonic screwdriver," he inserted, sounding very tired. He estimated he had been trying to explain his existence to Donna for a couple hours, even describing minute details so that they might be able to piece together why and how he was here. Yet still his logic failed him and she still wasn't believing him as much as he hoped. The SIDRAT was there and then it wasn't, sonic screwdrivers were suddenly pens, and Donna's house looked just like Rose's from the outside but not from within. None of it fit logically and it bugged him to no end.

"Whatever. How is it that your screwdriver ended up mass-produced at the store as a pen?"

He glanced at the clock above the mantle mildly. "It could be any amount of things really; some entrepreneurial alien decided to dumb down the complexities of sonic technology for mass human distribution, a sonic screwdriver fell out of orbit on the back of a meteor shower and was found by a passerby who the sold the design to a business, or some scientists could be working on an upcoming sonic technology project that needs funding, to name a few."

Donna plopped herself down on the couch adjacent to him. Her brow was wrinkled in concern, "All that is possible?"

The doctor tossed the pillow up with one hand only to catch it again and repeat the process. "That and more, I'm afraid. I just need a clue to what's going on here. Have you watched the news lately? Seen anything odd?"

The other just shook her head unhelpfully. "Nothing much has happened lately. You know, the usual stuff of kidnappings and world's oldest woman, that sort of thing."

He ceased flinging the pillow and set it aside. "Maybe I'm thinking about this all wrong and it's simpler than all that..."

"I think I can agree with that," Donna remarked, inferring he was crazy. She changed her position slightly so that her hands rested above her knees. "How's about we talk about ourselves for a bit. Do you know anyone else in town besides this Rose Tyler?"

The Doctor paused, suddenly feeling like he was under inspection. "In London? Lots of people. Most of them probably would rather forget about me. I'm not the easiest to commit to...I mean stay with...er, I travel a lot." Strange, his thoughts were becoming more and more muddled. "And you, Miss Noble, have you many acquaintances here?"

The other's mouth lifted into a kind smile. "Oh I know some people here and there, relatives too. Not exactly the busiest life, I admit."

"Um, secretary was it?" the Doctor guessed, drawing from what he could remember of her.

"Yes, how did you know?"

The Doctor cleared his throat, regretting he said anything. "Er, the papers of course. They did a small article about the firm, very good stuff. I recall your name being in one of the captions. I have a photographic memory that only works some of the time," he bluffed.

"I was not told of it but this is grand! When was it published then?" she asked, her eagerness to know very plain on her face.

The Doctor nervously glanced at the time and did a double take. "Your clock is broken!"

Donna blinked slowly then looked at the clock he indicated. The sudden change of topic appeared to throw her off. "That's...strange it worked earlier."

"And your sonic screwdriver was a pen until I appeared," he thought aloud, springing to his feet to inspect the clock. He produced his thick-framed spectacles from a pocket and put them on, ready to think! After a moment of pouring all his attention on the questionable object, he discovered that for all purposes it was a regular clock but the only hand that was performing correctly was the second hand. This marked a crack in the wall of improbability and the Doctor was going to take advantage of it. Oh, yes he was!

With a look of enlightenment, the Doctor ran to one of her windows and pulled the curtain aside. "Aha! The sun hasn't moved or rather we haven't moved from the sun! It's been in the same spot since I got here hours ago! This means there's something else at work here, something living, something that wants me here...or doesn't want me here at all." He ran the material of the curtain under his fingers distractedly, "Funny, I don't recognize this material. What are your curtains made from?"

When the Doctor glanced back, he saw Donna was standing only a few paces behind him looking a little more scared than she was before. "I, uh, hm...curtain store fabric?" she guessed, sounding very unsure of herself.

The Doctor stepped toward her with renewed confidence, his eyes sharp and clear under the brainy-specs. "Donna, when is your birthday?"

She took a couple steps back, nearly tripping on the edge of the couch. "Heh, seems to have slipped my mind. Friday? Yes, Friday is my birthday."

"And what date is that?" the Doctor pressed. "Time is a very important thing to humans, surely you know your own date of birth?" He closed the gap between them until they were only a few inches apart. He spoke slowly, hoping to cajole a straight answer from her. "Are you even really Donna?" A white smoke erupted into his face, stinging his eyes and forcing him away from the other.

The Doctor's eyes burned as he rubbed at them blindly. Whatever had masqueraded as Donna was definitely not human and not happy that he had found it out. "Wait! I just want to know who you are!" He heard the faint sound of something hard hitting the surface of Donna's wooden floor, skittering away from him. Desperately, he tried to squeeze his eyes open to see. "Please, wait!" but it was too late, whatever he had discovered already fled into the rest of the house.

Pausing from his pursuit, the Doctor retreated to the bathroom to wash out his eyes. His hands clumsily found the faucet and he began to nurse his sight. "White smoke...ouch, made of sand particles," he assessed out loud, rubbing the dust between his fingertips. "Only used for defensive purposes, right? You have no concept of time because you don't live in time." He raised his voice, not sure if the creature could even hear him, "Am I getting warmer?"

An ambiguous voice answered, very different from Donna's. It sounded like it came from the very walls of the house. "The Predator is here. Predators cause other's pain and death. I will stop the Predator, here in now, in my own kingdom."

"Predator? I told you, I'm the Doctor," he clarified, returning to his usual tone. He began to assume the mystery person could hear him if it could speak from the walls. "I help people."

"Lies!" it sneered back. "I have heard stories about the Doctor...the Predator from those who dream. They tell me their fears of you destroying all they built!"

"Dreams?" he closed his eyes to put the clues together, then they flashed open again. "Dreams! I'm in a dream! I'm dreaming! Dreamland! Hah, I deduced this was an illusion but a dream...that's just spectacular!" He grabbed at a washcloth and hastily dried his eyes and hands. "I like your handiwork, even had me completely fooled into believing it. Well, until the clock bit, that was a little sloppy..."

An agitated scream ripped through the house, making him cover his ears. "Silence! The days of the Predator are over. My children will no longer fear the night for I have captured the one who haunts their dreams!" The house and all its contents began to rumble and shake around him. Thuds echoed through the building as decorations and shelves buckled under the stress. "I will lock you here in the land of dreams. Lock you up, nice and tight."

The Doctor started to suspect whatever he had ticked off was not all there. He'd have to deal with this gently. "When you say 'children' do you mean blood-related, perchance?" But the other seemed beyond talking with at the moment. Chunks of the floor began to rip out of its surface as if it was done with many hands. They floated around him harmlessly yet he still didn't feel safe standing around them. "Perhaps at a different time," he remarked, answering his own question. Not waiting for any further actions from the house, he bolted for the front door. Behind him, the floor quaked and shattered, sending lethal splinters through the air. "Go, go, go, go, go!" he motivated himself as he reached the front entrance and turned the knob, throwing himself into the front lawn.

Moments passed before the Doctor could bring himself to roll on his stomach and stand. He squinted from behind his spectacles that now perched askew on the bridge of his nose. "Good thing that's not Rose's house, I guess." The building before him was split in half, from the tip of the roof all the way to the door. He spared a couple seconds to put his glasses away. "For being a protector of dreams, you are really making this a nightmare for me."

The crack in the door snaked its jagged path down the front steps, heading right for him. His face contorted into anger, "That's cheating!" He threw his hands up in the air, tired of the games, "Alright then, have at me if it makes you happy!" The crack lanced under his feet, its body opening up to swallow him whole.

* * *

Hard as it was for Jackie to believe, she actually enjoyed having a killer alien in her house. Their friendship began when she went downstairs to see Epsilon pacing back and forth at the bottom of them. "What are you doing," she asked.

The alien's single lens began to change colors, from blue to green to a very intense yellow. "I...NEED ORDERS, GIVE ME ORDERS." And their relationship blossomed from there. Within a half hour, her new helper had stocked the dishwasher, loaded the laundry, dusted every room on the first floor, and fixed that odd sound in her vacuum cleaner. It now busied itself in the kitchen with the coffee maker, putting in the grounds as she peacefully read the newspaper.

Jackie cleared her throat after finishing the day's headlines, "So is there a Mrs. Epsilon...or a Mister?" She realized that when it came to the gender of the alien in front of her, she really had no proof of knowing one way or the other. The bow tie suggested male but who was she to judge when the rest of the alien was clad in thick armor.

One of Epsilon's claws patted the top of the coffee maker as if encouraging it to go. "DALEK DO NOT HAVE THE HUMAN CONCEPT OF MARRIAGE."

Jackie broke away from her reading, finding this much more interesting. "None at all? Isn't it lonely to not have a partner that you can share your time with? Someone to confide with?" She fondly remembered she had her Pete back, he was at work right now, providing for his family. A smile grew on her lips.

Epsilon's head spun toward her for a moment before the body followed. "LONELY?" it repeated.

"Yeah," she proceeded, closing the paper and placing it on the table. "Don't you miss your own kind? I know they aren't the best at being friendly but they are your race. You can't be the only dalek in the universe that does not blindly kill."

The armored alien silently picked up her apron and tied it around itself, continuing with its duties. It stayed silent so long, Jackie thought it was not going to speak on the subject at all. "THE EPSILON UNIT IS LONG GONE. I DON'T HAVE ANY COMRADES BESIDES THE DOCTOR."

"Epsilon unit? So Epsilon was the name of your group?" this was getting much more interesting than she earlier assumed.

"THIS IS A CORRECT ASSUMPTION," Epsilon agreed as it pulled out a pan and greased it with butter. "I TOOK THE NAME AFTER THE DOCTOR FOUND ME."

"What's you real name then?" she asked, pure curiosity tinting her words.

"THAT PART OF MY INTERNAL DATA HAS BECOME CORRUPTED. I REMEMBER VERY LITTLE FROM MY LIFE BEFORE THE DOCTOR."

"That's too bad," Jackie commented sadly. "Well, I guess you can't be too lonely with him around. He's a bit of a talker, isn't he?"

"A BIT," the dalek conceded as it pulled more ingredients to make lunch for the household.


	5. Chapter 5

**Not Your Average Doctor**

by fogdragon23

Disclaimer: I do not own the copyright to Doctor Who. It is property of the BBC. Please support the official release. Thank you.

* * *

**Chapter 5**

It was quiet like a inward sigh, "Go."

Rose was perched on a chair, with her arms crossed on the bed, next to the Doctor. He hadn't so much as trembled since she placed him under the covers but she could have sworn she heard him speak. "Doctor?" she asked, hopefully. Still he did not stir despite her attention. Tears rose to her eyes as she feared she had missed some important message. "Please, just one more time."

"Rose," the Doctor murmured from his frozen posture. His throat bobbed with strain as he tried to force out the next words. "Dreams...n-ni-nightmares." A frown followed the words, his face showing anger even in his sleeping state.

"Dreams, nightmares," Rose parroted. A wave a relief passed over her at hearing him actually speak. His previous long silence had worried her into thinking he might be in a coma. "Dreams and nightmares," she repeated, whispering this time. She looked around the room as if the answer was in the air. Her eyes widened in realization, "I have an idea, Doctor! Don't worry!" and she ran from the guest room to her own.

* * *

The Doctor was in a darkness he had never known before. It was a pitch nothingness that appeared to go on forever. There were no lights, no creatures, no civilization. Just complete darkness. "Hello?" he called into the infinite. Words were hard to speak here as the air was too thin to breathe easily. "I see you've redecorated my mind," the Doctor observed, "I can't say I like it."

A ripple of light came from the corner of the Doctor's peripheral vision. "Welcome to my playground, Predator." The voice remained disembodied, only the tiny ripple in the dark betraying that something was there.

"Ah, I see you're feeling more reasonable without a house to flatten. Renovation does wonders for one's emotional state, so I hear," the Doctor offered in a chipper tone. "Speaking of which, how about we shine some light on this situation?"

"Why should I coddle the Predator? Does the Predator not have an imagination?"

The Doctor blinked slowly. "I, uh...oh! This is one of those 'imagine-it-yourself' things, isn't it? Very well," he closed his eyes to help get a clearer picture. "We're on my SIDRAT, sharing a bottle of Chardonnay. It's been ages since I've had one of those." Sure enough, he opened his eyes to see the SIDRAT in all of its glory; levers, buttons, and all.

A humanoid hand held his glass of wine in a mostly friendly gesture. The hand belong to a tall, marble white being. Small purple spots lightly covered its limbs and bald head. The being inspected itself with large black eyes, "So this is how you choose to imagine me? Charming."

The Doctor took the offered glass and swiftly sipped, "You're welcome. At first, I imagined you were a big, wrinkly mess of teeth and hate, but I like this one better. Much more personable."

The other touched its lips with its fingers, "Hm, no teeth. You have thought of everything."

The Doctor retreated to his chair by the consoles and plopped into it, the chair making straining noises under the addition of his weight. "Now, what would you rather I call you or should I label you Mr. Dreamweaver?" He took a celebratory drink from his dreamed-up glass.

"Some of my children call me Lukøje."

The Doctor nearly spat out his drink. "Pardon? Lukøje?" he asked. "Ole Lukøje? The Lukøje? Mr. Sandman?! Oh this is great! I never thought I'd get the attention of you! In all my years, you have been the hardest to get a hold of!"

The dream maker was peering at its own glass with suspicion, lips trembling as it debated testing the liquid. "I will not fall for the Predator's words. You are here to ruin me as you have done to my children."

"I am? Sorry, I don't recall waging war on children's dreams, Mr. Lukøje."

Black eyes stared back at him, hollow and watery. "Lies," it snapped. "The Predator only speaks lies! You have not heard the dreams of my children, you cannot pretend to know what they fear. Look!" It flicked its long fingers and a puff of white smoke filled the center of the SIDRAT.

First, one fearful face rose up from the bottom of the cloud then it was accompanied by another and another. The myriad of faces continued to float up the tube into the ceiling of the SIDRAT, each one had the look of fear and helplessness etched into them. The Doctor's brows knit together as he put his hand up to the imaginary SIDRAT's center. "What is happening to them?"

"Dreaming," Lukøje promptly replied. "These are the faces of the children in all the universe that have you changing their dreams into nightmares...right now."

This news put the Doctor off his Chardonnay. "That can't be right. I'm a good guy. They should be dreaming of daleks and cyberman and those types of chaps, not me."

"Then, explain this." Lukøje placed its free hand on the glass also, only it went inside the tube and grabbed one of the faces.

The face belonged to what the Doctor identified as a young Skullion, it had one eye and a characteristically flattened nose on its childlike face. At first it only moved its lips without any sound at all but then its voice began to rise in volume. "...I heard them speaking today about the Doctor. He sounds terrible. He saves people only after they die, I don't want to die. I don't want to die! I don't want to DIE!"

Lukøje pushed the face back into the stream of fears and produced another one. This one was a small Graske, "Help! It's eating me! The magic box has me! Mommy!"

"I still don't understand what this has to do with me," the Doctor said at length. "I haven't done anything to these children, really!"

Lukøje placed the child's image back in the tube and crossed its arms. "If it wasn't you, which I doubt, who do you think would be capable of this?"

"I...don't know," the Doctor admitted, "maybe a mass hypnotism or really outrageous myths. I can't tell much from here, you'd have to let me wake up."

"No!" Lukøje snarled, it's displeasure very evident. "If I keep you here, they will get better! They will forget the Predator that stalks them and return to my dreams!"

"Hold up!" the Doctor interjected, drawing a pause from the other. "You only domain over dreams!"

"Yes, what of it?"

A grin spread on the Doctor's face. "When you make dreams you fabricate them from previous thoughts and ideas of the individual child, correct?"

"That's right," offered Lukøje, staying very short with the Doctor.

"Well, isn't it probable that someone else is implanting my likeness into the minds of your children with the power of nightmares? Not like hypnotism...maybe more like mass broadcast. Children are much more sensitive to changes in the universe after all."

Lukøje scratched its chin thoughtfully. "You do make a compelling argument."

"I'm going to suspect this was a recent occurrence as well?"

"Hm, that I am unsure of."

"Great!" The Doctor took another swig of his drink excitedly. "Is there any way you would let me out of here. I mean, I'm pretty good at this 'puzzle-y saving the universe' thing but it's easier with control over my own body." He pointed at his wine, "I'm really going to miss this stuff though, tastes a lot better in my head than in real life. Shame I can't take it with me."

"I give you one hour."

"Pardon? One hour to fix all this?" he gestured at the faces of the children. "Even miracle workers need some leeway, Mr. Sandman."

"One hour or nothing," Lukøje stayed steadfast.

The Doctor hesitated on his answer.

* * *

"This is so stupid," Rose said to herself as she held an object in the Doctor's direction. Clamped in her hand was a small bucket of ice water. This could easily have been one of her best or worst ideas, depending on the outcome, she hoped it was the former. She really did. "Alright, Doctor, let's see if you sleep through this!" She pulled the container back, readying to dispose of its contents on the man in the bed.

Just then he sat up like a shot, cracking his head on the bucket. Some stray water sloshed in his face as Rose jumped back with a choked scream. "Ow!" The Doctor exclaimed, rubbing his forehead with a hand. "And cold, ugh," he flicked a sleeve reflexively. "Pain is a good sign, albeit annoying." He looked at Rose, studying the item in her hand. His expression changed from pained to betrayed. "Can I ask why you smacked my head with a bucket?"

"I didn't smack you with a bucket, you did that yourself! I was just...um...nevermind that, are you all right?"

He went down a mental checklist of all his limbs before answering, "Yep, everything is how I left it. I don't think I remember this room though, it's kind of a nice small hidey-hole. I like it." He pulled the covers away so that he could stand. "I don't have much time to talk, limited freedom and all that."

"What?"

"I'll explain as we go. To the SIDRAT!" he commanded with sudden authority. Rose filed behind the Doctor as he hustled down the stairs, eager to reach his destination. "I had a slight run-in with the Sandman himself," he recalled as he stepped off the final stair. "Not exactly the most patient of fellows but he did manage to calm down before sentencing me to a prison inside my own head."

"How brutal," Rose replied.

"I know. He's giving me about an hour to solve whatever is causing children to make nightmares out of my image. Problem being he, or rather it, has no concept of time as it lives outside of our understanding of time, so realistically I have until it thinks it's been an hour." He rounded the bottom of the banister and quickly closed the gap to the front door.

Jackie emerged from the kitchen, looking more than happy to see the Doctor up and about. "Are you well then, Doctor?"

"Well enough," he responded before entering outside. "Oh glorious, look at my lovely SIDRAT! Right where I left her this time too!"

Rose stayed back with her mother as they watched him stroke the side of the time machine lovingly. "He seems himself," Rose observed, erasing any doubt.

"Maybe a little too himself," he mother responded.

"PARDON ME." Epsilon politely parted them with his grabbing apparatus to squeeze through to the front lawn. It nearly crashed over the entryway in its haste to join the Doctor. One of its hands still held aloft the pan it had been using previously, a sandwich still plastered onto its surface. "DO YOU REQUIRE ASSISTANCE?" the dalek asked as it neared the time lord.

"Sonic screwdriver, please," the Doctor insisted, readily offering the palm of his hand. "I see you've got me a lunch as well. Very good, I am starting to feel peckish..."

Epsilon deposited the screwdriver in his hand as directed. "I HAVE REASSEMBLED THE CHARGES. THE RESULTS SHOULD BE OPERABLE AT PRESENT."

"Still not cured, huh?" The Doctor flipped the implement once in the air, then dropped to his knees to begin scanning the base of his time machine. "Guess I'll just have to use it moderately then."

"I SALVAGED PARTS FROM JACKIE TYLER'S CLEANING VACUUM," the dalek added proudly.

The two women strolled up the pathway behind them. "You scrapped from my vacuum?!" Jackie squealed in protest. Her face held apparent disapproval at the prospect.

"It was a good sacrifice if it counts for anything," the Doctor affirmed. "Now when would you say I first fell asleep, Epsilon?"

"APPROXIMATELY FIVE MINUTES AND FIFTY SECONDS AFTER LANDING."

"I love myself a good approximation," he remarked to no one's benefit. He grabbed the side of the time machine to lift himself into a standing position. "I'm getting a reading from under the SIDRAT. Don't be alarmed, it appears to still be alive."

"What's alive?" Rose asked, not following his broken logic.

The Doctor rolled back on his heels much like a child in trouble. "During re-entry into your timeline, I may have accidentally materialized on top of a certain metaphysical native of the universe with the SIDRAT. I assure you it was completely accidental and I had no way of knowing."

Rose blinked. "You squished the Sandman?"

"More like I squished the Sandman's angry cousin," he corrected sheepishly. "But not to fear! This is all fixable if I _scootch_ the SIDRAT in another direction." He felt around in his coat and produced his key, "I just hope the cousin is the listening type." A turn in the lock later and he was onboard the SIDRAT, ready to go. "Oh and Rose," he added before closing the door, "if I fall asleep again, spare me the bucket of water."


	6. Chapter 6

**Not Your Average Doctor**

by fogdragon23

Disclaimer: I do not own the copyright to Doctor Who. It is property of the BBC. Please support the official release. Thank you.

* * *

**Chapter 6**

The Doctor took a deep breath as he ran his hands over the controls of the SIDRAT. There was no telling how the being under the time machine was going to react when freed. If he was right to assume Ole Lukøje was the nicer of the two, than he was going to have a big problem on his hands. The chances of the nightmare maker just being grateful and leave him alone were minimal. Yet, he couldn't waste his time having second thoughts with Ole Lukøje waiting to trap him at any second. A few more flicks later, he had his hand on the lever that marked the last step of his plan. It was heavy under his grip. "Alright," he whispered to himself before he pulled.

The SIDRAT functioned as per usual, shimmying slightly as she propelled from the ground. No dramatic cloud rose from the depths of the SIDRAT, no monster descended to him from the ceiling. It was all way too normal. The readouts on the monitor read regular, everything was perfect, and that was most unsettling. "Had a change of heart, did you? I think not," the Doctor whispered to himself. He scanned the monitor one last time before heading to the exit. He pulled the door open, ready for whatever the nightmare lord had in store for him.

Three expectant faces stared back at him wide-eyed. "I think it worked," Rose supplied.

"Did you see anything?" the Doctor asked automatically.

"It was strange...like a flux but it didn't stick around for very long. Just kind of faded away after you moved the SIDRAT." Her eyes betrayed her confusion about the whole matter. "Said something too. Like 'vase' or 'face'."

"I thought it said 'lace'," Jackie suggested.

"MY AUDIO SENSORS DESIGNATE THE VOCALIZATION WAS 'MACE'. POSSIBILITY OF ERROR IS UNDER THREE PERCENT."

"So it's vase, face, lace, or mace? Noted. Well, we don't appear to be in any immediate danger," he stepped out of his time machine and grabbed at the sandwich that Epsilon held aloft. The pan retreated just out of his reach. "Oh come on, just one bite. I'm _starved_!"

"THIS SUSTENANCE HAS EXCEEDED ITS FRESHNESS DUE TO OUTDOOR ELEMENTS. I WILL REMAKE A SANDWICH OF THE SAME TEMPLATE IN THE COOKING QUARTERS." Epsilon was already reversing toward the house so that the Doctor couldn't easily steal from the pan.

"Such a cheeky alien!" The Doctor nodded his head toward the dalek, a gesture that caused the others to follow him. He lowered his tone so that only Rose could hear. "He doesn't have to talk like that, you know. Downloaded thousands of pronunciation guides through the SIDRAT, human and otherwise."

"_Him_? So it is a _he_?" Rose asked, lowering her own voice. Somehow it seemed rude to ask normally.

The Doctor looked at her, all smiles. "I have no idea actually. Wears a bow tie so I just go with it. He doesn't seem to get too offended over it."

"Why are we all whispering?" Jackie queried, mimicking their low tones. "It's already gone in the house."

The Doctor cleared his throat, slightly embarrassed. "When can we expect Mr. Tyler to come home? He'll miss Epsilon's amazing cooking if he doesn't hurry."

"Soon, I hope," Jackie confessed. "Though I expect Mickey will be back shortly, he only needed to grab a couple things at the store." She slipped into the house, looking slightly harried, "You better be in the kitchen and not tearing up my vacuum, Epsi-Epsil...oh whats-your-face!"

The Doctor stopped at the door and let the other go ahead of him. "Very well. I'll have a scan over the flat and make sure our nightmare buddy didn't get himself stuck in another ridiculous area. If you don't see me again in an hour, then come get me. I don't want to risk falling asleep again and having the local authorities taking me in." He visibly shivered with a memory of his last visit to the police station. "It's amazing how rude people can be when they can't find your record and realize your only possession is a banana."

Rose's lips quirked up into a smile as she turned around just inside the entrance, her hand gripped the frame of the door. "You are perhaps the second weirdest individual I've ever met."

This peaked the Doctor's interest. "And the first?"

The girl paused playfully to think, "Hm, Cassandra."

The Doctor's face skewed into distaste. "The O'Brien boy? Come on, I'm more charming than that old girl! She stole my body once and without permission, I'll have you know! She was so..._touchy_."

A giggle slipped from Rose. She tried to run a hand over her mouth to stifle it.

The Doctor's expression softened. So this was the person his parallel life had been travelling with. Companions were hard to come by let alone good ones. The trials of time and space were more than what most people could bear yet here she was, hardly batting an eye at a time lord and a dalek. She was also nice, bright, and exceptionally marvellous. Just what the Doctor ordered. He gave her a short wink, "Better get in before your Mom begins to wonder."

Joy was still perched on her face. "Yeah. Good luck, Doctor." Her grip on the door lessened as she pulled it shut.

* * *

This line was taking forever! Before he could even get out of the store a bus of youths had stopped in for refreshers. A line that normally took five minutes on most days became a half hour but Mickey managed to make a good time of it, talking to some of the kids. Judging by their expressions of awe, they appeared to be either tourists or on a field trip.

"So how's your day been," he quizzed the boy behind him.

The younger boy answered with gusto. "It's been wild! Feels like we've been all over the place. Going to the Globe Theater next, I can't wait."

"You're a Shakespeare fan then?"

The other smiled and nodded until the boy behind him elbowed his ribs. He shyly shook his head with the true answer. "I just like travelling outside of school. Us kids need a breather once in awhile."

Mickey stifled the chuckle in his throat and nodded as the line mercifully shifted forward. He continued to chat with the boy until it was his turn to pay at the register. His purchases went by quickly and he was soon out of the store, ready to take his bike home.

It had been kind of Mr. Tyler to let Mickey stay with them at least until he found his own place. Life had certainly become more complicated for all of them, ever since their gathering at the bay. 'Huh, when was it that the Doctor was suppose to show up? Yesterday? Tomorrow? Today?' He dreaded the last thought. 'He's practically a stranger and we're supposed to like him just because he tells us too,' he silently complained.

He slowed down as he rounded the last bend and yielded even more when he saw a strange man at the Tyler's walkway. The man was wearing a long gray coat which was strange in this nice weather. He was reaching toward the side of the SIDRAT, also strange behaviour. It took Mickey no time to deduce that the Doctor had finally landed. He rolled his eyes. This was proving to be a grand day.

Mickey halted his bike just far enough from the stranger to feel safe. "Can I help you?"

The man faltered from his task. His ashen overcoat flared slightly as he turned, a bright smile spread on his face. "The Doctor is here," he stated cheerily, like a kid getting first dibs at Christmas presents.

"Seems that way," Mickey responded plainly, his eyes scanning the side of the orange monstrosity in the lawn. He couldn't bring himself to celebrate the return of a man he barely knew. It betrayed the memory of the first Doctor he met. Yet there was this guy, looking more chipper than a child at a candy market.

A quick movement at the corner of his vision caught his attention, just over the stranger's shoulder. Mickey saw the Doctor himself pressed against the side of the house, peering back at them with wide, scared eyes. The Doctor made a few gestures that Mickey assumed meant to keep the new guy busy. Mickey lightly nodded in his direction briefly before continuing on. "So who are you? And how do you know the Doctor?" he continued, suspicion very obvious in his tone.

"Me? A friend or I was a friend way back." The stranger pointed at the SIDRAT with a naked hand, "Let's just say that old box was blue."

Mickey thought back to his first conversation with the new Doctor. "Ten years ago?" he asked, recounting their conversation on the paint.

"Hah, I only wish it was that easy," the guy answered. "We'll just say a long time and leave it at that. You seem to know a bit about the Doctor, who are you?"

"I asked you first." Mickey was not very impressed with the stranger's vague answers. He wasn't about to supply him with more information than needed.

The stranger gave him a stunned look, he was apparently the kind of guy that always got what he wanted. "Very well, I'm Captain Jack Harkness." He tilted his head in such a way that made Mickey suddenly feel like he was on display, "And you are?"

"Mickey Smith."

Jack visibly mulled this over in his mind. "Can't say I know your name but your face looks really familiar...papers? Television?" His eyes drifted down Mickey's frame, studying him. "Internet?"

Mickey didn't know how to answer that and didn't care enough to try. A small click from the SIDRAT distracted both of them from their verbal exchange. "Doc?" Jack asked the empty air. He circled the machine until he was at the entrance. He raised a fist and knocked on its surface, "Hey, Doc! I know you can hear me! Come on out and say hi!"

The SIDRAT remained uncommunicative.

In spite, Jack produced a thin chain that was attached to a small metal object. "Oh yeah? Well guess who still has a spare key after all this time?"

The door cracked open enough for the two men to see the Doctor's lanky form, one of his arms hidden behind his back. "Sorry, had to grab a very important implement I bought just for this meeting. Excuse me, Mickey." He revealed his hidden arm and promptly began to spritz Jack childishly in the face with a purple squirt gun.

Jack tried to dodge the line of fire as Mickey looked on. "Hey, hey, hey! Stop! Mercy!"

"I told you to run and what did you do? You just stood there like a lemon! You're supposed to listen to the people that are trying to save you! Jack, I'm a Doctor not a-!" The Doctor paused from his scolding and scratched the crown of his head in agitation. "Wait...no, that's Star Trek."

Jack rubbed away stray droplets of water that threatened his eyes. "I see you've regenerated between now and when we last met. I'd say it's an improvement."

"None of that or I'll squirt you again!" The Doctor centered the odd object at the other man.

Jack raised his hands defensively. "Can't we be civil about this? I've been all over time and space trying to catch up to you. I didn't even know where to start, Doc."

The Doctor lowered the toy gun, looking more and more sorry for himself. "They were going to kill you," he said quietly.

"And they did," Jack finished with a shrug. "It hurt but that's all water under the bridge at this point."

Mickey cleared his throat to get their attention. "As enlightening as this is to listen to, I have some perishables I need to get to the fridge. You guys want to come inside?"

The other two men glanced at each other, neither daring to move before the other. The Doctor holstered his water toy. "All right but I'm keeping this in case you get any funny ideas so be on your best behaviour," he warned, stepping out from the inside of the SIDRAT.

Jack gave him a mock salute. "Yes sir." This earned a heavy sigh from the other.


	7. Chapter 7

**Not Your Average Doctor**

by fogdragon23

Disclaimer: I do not own the copyright to Doctor Who. It is property of the BBC. Please support the official release. Thank you.

* * *

**Chapter 7**

It didn't take long for Jack to discover the other alien in the household."There's a dalek in the kitchen, why is no one upset by this?" he demanded from the other people around him.

"That was not here this morning," Mickey remarked, trying unsuccessfully to keep the quake out of his voice. He plopped down at the dining table across from Jackie, as she kept an eye on the alien in the kitchen. Her lips fell open slightly when two of Epsilon's many arms retied the apron he wore.

The dalek in question leisurely turned its head in Mickey's direction. "HELLO, RESIDENT MICKEY SMITH." Then it returned to its task, neglecting to engage the other guest.

This was entirely strange behavior for Epsilon, it always went out of its way to be polite to those the Doctor deemed as friends. For some reason, the dalek had ignored Jack's outburst and this sparked the Doctor's curiosity. "Don't be rude, Epsilon, say hello to the Captain."

Epsilon's golden head twirled toward the Doctor, the eyes stalk slowly bobbing up and down, searching. "WHAT CAPTAIN?"

The Doctor clamped a hand on Jack's shoulder, "You must have a perception dampener. Good show, you fooled a dalek. Where did you get that kind of technology?"

Jack raised his wrist to inspect the device wrapped around it. He was just as excited as the Doctor to share information about it. "It's still in its testing phase. I managed to scavenge a couple parts here and there. I decided to dabble in perceptions between species and individuals. Someone like me needs this kind of device. Can't let myself get caught again, you know? Unfortunately, it doesn't always work," he grudgingly motioned toward the Doctor in example, "but it does its job on humans pretty well."

"I see," the Doctor smiled. He held his palm toward the object, "May I?"

Jack stared back at the Doctor, not exactly trusting the other. "I don't like to share my toys but I can make an exception," he decided. He unlatched it from his wrist and handed it over.

"YOU ARE NOT A TENANT OF THE TYLER RESIDENCE. IDENTIFY!" boomed Epsilon's voice from the kitchen. It was peering at them through the archway that separated the rooms.

Jackie, Mickey, and Rose all blinked at Jack from their positions. Each wore the same sort of confused look, like a sheet had been lifted from between them and him. "Jack!" the name burst from Rose's throat, startling Epsilon into silence.

"Jack!" Mickey repeated an instant later. Lines in his brow formed when he realized something about this situation felt off.

"In the flesh," the Doctor said mildly. He intently spun the gadget in one hand while scanning it with the sonic screwdriver. "Look at those circuits. Extraordinary. Can't say I would have made it quite like this though, too much energy loss. Don't think you're off the hook, Jack. Technology like this can easily get into the wrong hands."

Jack gave Rose a courtesy wave, a devilish light filled his gaze. He stopped only when the Doctor nudged him. "Perception filters are common enough. Besides, this is just a home-brew," Jack shrugged.

The Doctor stopped his scan, satisfied with his findings. He handed the device back to its owner. "Home-brewed and not fully tested can be a very dangerous mix. It's dripping energy signatures everywhere. Just be careful who you use it on."

"There's a Captain Jack in this reality too?" Rose asked, amaze crossing her face. "How have you been? Are you still hitting on everything that gives you a glance?"

"You tell me, miss," he replied with a wink.

"You dog." It was hard to imagine that this was a different Jack; he looked the same, acted the same, had the same voice and reactions. Rose was filled with joyful memories and nostalgia all over again. "I guess it's fitting that your aren't any different. Universal sex icon and all that." She let her gaze drop for a teasing instant.

"Oh I like her, Doc," Jack growled. "Did you pick her up or get her mailed?"

"No, Jack, that's _dirty_! Her _mother's_ right there! Shame on you!" the Doctor pointed her out with the sonic screwdriver before pocketing it away. "You both need to behave in front of Jackie, agreed?"

"That's her mother?" Jack sauntered toward the dining table, gaining Jackie's attention, "Her sister, more like."

Jackie couldn't help feeling flattered. Her cheeks flushed a deep pink. "Oh my..."

"Jack," the Doctor spat.

Jack rolled his eyes and shrugged out of his coat, draping it over one of the chairs. "Have it your way, Doc."

* * *

The rest of the afternoon proved to be pretty uneventful up until Pete came home to a complete stranger and an armored alien. Being verbally gifted, the Doctor had worked fast to lull Pete into a false sense of security before initiating dinner. It took all of the Doctor's wits to keep Jack from slipping inappropriate innuendos to Pete as they feasted. Thankfully, the food disappeared quickly and everyone separated to finish various errands.

Epsilon and the Doctor were huddled in a corner of the living room together. The Doctor knelt before the dalek to make a couple adjustments. Under his gentle hands the small door that sealed off the death ray attachment laid open. His thick framed brainy-specs were perched importantly on his nose as he worked.

Rose lounged on the couch, watching the two conspire. Mickey sat on the other end of the couch to to put distance between him and Epsilon while still being able to observe. He noticeably cringed and she thought she'd see a flash of a tentacle pass between the dalek and the time lord. The Doctor began playing with strings of cords and wires. "What are you guys up to?" Rose asked.

The Doctor chose not to answer her, he instead spoke to the dalek before him. "Okay Epsilon, I want you to watch and learn. I need your help keeping Jack in order. If you suspect he is doing anything untoward just give him a good spray and he'll stop. Don't be afraid to use excessive force neither, Rassilon knows when was the last time that man had a shower."

Rose nearly toppled out of the couch as Jack snuck up behind her. "Come on, Doc, don't spread lies. I don't go a day without a proper shower!" Jack defended. A cold jet of water splashed across his shirt, earning a couple giggles from Rose. "Gee, thanks."

"That's for interrupting my teachings," the Doctor sassed back, squirt gun in hand. He turned to his butler to resume his task. He checked a couple connections then gave the alien a thumbs up. "There we are. Two birds with one stone, as they say. I gave your artillery a minor upgrade and did a little cable management."

The compartment snapped shut and Epsilon moved its head just enough to view Jack. "I WILL DO MY BEST TO PROTECT THE TYLER'S."

"Give me a little bit of credit, I said I'd be good." Jack seemed to grow uneasy whenever he was near Epsilon despite the Doctor's reassurances. He wasn't alone in these feelings. Mickey still wasn't sold on the fact that there was a harmless dalek in the house.

The Doctor rolled his eyes in disbelief. "'Oh sure. You already hit on Mrs. Tyler and she's _pregnant_!"

Jack didn't appear to understand where the Doctor's aggression was coming from. "I was just saying hello and complimented her on her natural beauty. What's bent you out of shape?"

The Doctor rubbed at his eyes under his glasses, visibly stressed. "I'm sorry. I...had a little run-in with Lukøje earlier and it's got me rattled."

"Lukøje? The Lukøje?" Jack clarified, his eyes betraying fear.

"The one and only."

Jack strolled around the couch and sat himself between Rose and Mickey, stretching his arms out behind both of them. "I never took Lukøje to be the type to bother you. I was under the impression that he's a good guy."

"Good isn't the word I would use but he certainly isn't evil. Just perturbed that my image has been implanted into children's dreams," the Doctor explained slowly. He began to tick through all he knew about the subject, ready to jump at a hint once it presented itself. "His cousin...other half...the one that makes nightmares, was using my SIDRAT as an amplifier, to corrupt dreams, after I landed on top of him."

"You landed the SIDRAT on top of Lukøje's cousin? Now I've heard of everything." Jack subconsciously rubbed at the wet fabric stretched across his stomach.

The Doctor rolled his tongue, stuck in deep thought. "Something's not right, though. Lukøje promised he'd come for me after an hour and it's been way passed that. My best hope is that the nightmares have stopped and he's just too busy fixing to rest of it to bother with me."

"Do you really believe that?"

The Doctor shook his head. "Not a chance." Defeated, he stood up and began to pace across the room. "As it is, his cousin disappeared after I freed him. Said a word before he left that sounds like vase, face, mace, lace... Probably an insult of some sort."

"OR A THREAT," Epsilon added in its monotone.

Jack mumbled something too low for anyone to hear.

"Pardon?" the Doctor asked, jumping at any new information.

"I said, you're probably better off staying low for awhile. If there is something else going on here, you better start packing. I haven't met them personally but I've heard a fair share of stories. These guys are no joke," Jack reasoned. "Your best bet is to run." His logic was sound but there was another issue to deal with.

"Rose," the Doctor began, "as much as I hate to say it, he's got a good point. If there is something else going on, I need to get away from your family to keep them from getting involved."

This was the exact news she didn't want to hear. They were all sitting and having a good time until now. It was all too quick. "You want me to make a decision now?"

The Doctor nodded apologetically, his hands in his pockets. "I know that this is a hard decision but I can't afford leaving your family vulnerable to them after all you've been through."

She knew he was right. They were just settling down in their new life, becoming normal again. Like they were before the Doctor introduced himself into their lives. They had talked about it often while vacationing in Norway, about being happy and settling in. This was her chance to live life like how the Doctor had wanted to before they were locked apart. But this time it was her decision, she had control; not the Doctor, not her father, or the Lukøje. The decision was hers and hers alone.

The Doctor looked unsure about himself, swaying slowly to the left then to the right. "So how about it, Rose Tyler? Will you come with me and run across the stars?"

Rose warred with herself before answering. The more she thought about it, the more she realized there was only one answer. "Yes."


	8. Chapter 8

**Not Your Average Doctor**

by fogdragon23

Disclaimer: I do not own the copyright to Doctor Who. It is property of the BBC. Please support the official release. Thank you.

* * *

**Chapter 8**

The next hour was filled with hasty conversations and packing. Rose gave her parents more hugs than she had in her life. The three of them were on the brink of crying, they were so close to living a normal life but she had to mess it all up. The more she thought about it, the more she realized she couldn't stay. She just couldn't. There were too many lives out there that needed help and the Doctor was so rubbish on his own. She was going to help him make things right, that was that.

"Marvelous!" The Doctor was the first into the SIDRAT, exclaiming excitedly like he had come home after a long trip. "Alright, keep your hands and feet inside the SIDRAT at all times. Unless the door is open... unless the door is open because we're under attack, in which case, I'm probably panicking and pulling at my hair. Don't do that, by the way."

Rose boarded behind him. She carried a side-bag with her, containing a couple necessities and a change of clothes."Panicking or pulling on my hair?"

He pulled at a few controls, glancing between the monitor and the pulsating core. "Preferably both but that's wishful thinking." He squinted at his reflection in the SIDRAT's glass, "That was rude, sorry. I must be reacting to the residual particles on you."

"Don't worry about it, I've been through worse," Rose answered simply.

Jack followed behind, prodded through by Epsilon's holding mechanism. "Hey, I'm coming on my own volition. Is the force really necessary?"

"Just making sure you actually keep up this time," the Doctor said with a cheeky smile. His eyes drifted to the door expectantly, "So I guess Mickey's not coming?"

"Volunteered to stay behind to watch over my parents," Rose answered, setting her stuff down by a lonesome looking coat rack near the entrance. In truth, he had pulled her aside and strictly told her that he was not getting on a spaceship with a dalek and a narcoleptic Doctor. He had also tried to get her to stay, to change her mind but the conversation didn't last long. He gave her one last hug before she followed the Doctor on board.

"Very well, then." The Doctor typed in a couple coordinates, "We're about ready to go. Everyone, brace yourselves against something solid because this will be a little rough." An amused chuckle escaped him as everyone scrambled to follow his direction. They had barely managed to get to their positions before SIDRAT shuddered violently from underneath them.

An ache started at Rose's temple, dull but very distracting. It grew like a spider, taking over her whole head and where was that heat coming from? "Doctor!" she screamed as items around the room began to shift and grow fuzzy. She touched the side of her head with her hand, "It hurts!" The pain began to feel like sharp spears were digging into her very being, starting at her head and webbing outward to her heart and extremities.

The Doctor responded immediately, twisting a few dials to calm the SIDRAT down. He hurried to her side, grasping her arms solidly. "What hurts?"

"Everything," she replied, nearly to tears. The ache was replaced by sheer pain that rolled through her body in waves.

"Epsilon, I need a full scan on her; internal, external, environmental, all of it," the Doctor commanded.

"PROCESSING REQUEST. RUNNING ENVIRONMENTAL SCANS. PROCESSING. THE SIDRAT IS EXPERIENCING TEMPORAL INTERFERANCE. A SIMILAR SIGNATURE IS COMING FROM ROSE TYLER. PROCESSING. EXTERNAL AND INTERNAL ANALYSIS SHOWS ROSE TYLER IS SUFFERING FROM ELEVATED FATIGUE, NAUSEA, STRESS, AND...PROCESSING...PROCESSING. INCOMPLETE DATA."

Rose spilled into the Doctor from the pain. They both descended to the ground, the Doctor holding her as he crouched to support her. "Hurts." She closed her eyes as she tried to wish the pain away.

"Shh, Rose. Keep taking breathes, I need you to take deep breathes. In and out, nice and easy." He pulled her into a hug. She felt his warmth drown her, covering her from the world around them. A smell drifted to her nose, was that ozone? Then the familiar trill of his sonic screwdriver filled her ears. There were footsteps coming near them. "The residual matter is reacting to the SIDRAT's core but it'll be okay. Rose, remember the breathing? You need to keep doing it, alright? As I said, in and out, one and two. Easy."

"Anything I can do to help?" came Jack's voice. He was next to them and Rose was vaguely aware that she had heard his footsteps.

Rose squeezed open her eyes, just enough to she him, but she was so dizzy and nauseous. "Jack..."

"Take her, please," the Doctor ordered. "And keep her breathing. If she stops, she might not take another."

For a moment, she was held between them and she felt like she was melting. "Doctor, hurry..." Her vision was impossible to deal with, all she could see was indistinct colors and shapes floating above them. Beeps distracted her from the shapes and she tried to see what the Doctor was up to. His form hovered by Jack's side as he fiddled with something.

"I'm setting your vortex manipulator to correlate with the SIDRAT when it launches and lands. It will be close, but if we keep her here any longer the particles are going to eat her. Literally, eat her. Vortex feeding frenzy."

Jack's chest rose against her as he spoke, his heartbeat betrayed his nervousness. "My manipulator isn't going to be able to handle that sort of maneuvering."

"Think of this as a temporary upgrade. You're going to wibble when I wobble and visa-versa. The SIDRAT will keep you from...I really don't have to time to explain the mechanics of it. Off you go!"

Suddenly there was a sound and Rose couldn't breathe! Her chest wouldn't rise no matter how much she tried. She squirmed in Jack's grasp. He was choking her. If he would just loosen his hold she could breath again. She pounded her fists against him, her limbs feeling like lead. Nothing she did phased him in the slightest and it filled her with terror. Her mouth fell open in a silent scream.

Then she was on the SIDRAT again, it was blurry but it was definitely the SIDRAT. She punched at Jack, with more force this time, and he cried out. "Down girl! You almost wiggled your way into raw time. Not exactly a good plan when someone's helping you out."

The Doctor's voice pipped up before she could answer. "It worked! Fantastic! We cheated the rules of time itself and lived. Nothing quite like hopping through space and time at our leisure, right guys?"

Jack's hold on her lightened, "How about some concern, Doc? She almost died out there!" A couple clanking sounds followed, "And my manipulator's shot!"

"Quite right," the Doctor replied with more seriousness. "I'm very sorry that I had to throw you guys into it so suddenly. I had no choice, with everything as messy as it was..."

Rose fumbled out of Jack's grip and crawled toward a golden mass. The blue light near its top betrayed which person she was crawling to. "CALCULATING DAMAGES TO ROSE TYLER." She grabbed at it's lower half, finding one of the many baubles that decorated it's metal skirt. Multiple metal hands tugged at her clothes so that she might stand with the dalek's help. As she leaned on it she realized how remarkably sturdy it was for an alien that glided across floors. "DAMAGES ARE NONLETHAL."

"Thanks," she said hoarsely. "When is my sight going to come back?"

"THIS WAY," the dalek ordered, ignoring her question.

With little other choice left, she obeyed. Her legs didn't want to go but she was able to get along with the dalek's help. Through the blurriness, she witnessed the SIDRAT shift in front of them. A long hallway appeared where she knew a wall usually was. "This is...new," she remarked, sounding slightly drunk. She nearly fell over when the dalek made a sharp turn.

The room that they were going into had a gray hue to it, like it had the potential to be bright and blinding but some important light had been turned off. "THIS IS MEDICAL BAY. YOU WILL STAY HERE UNTIL THE DOCTOR SAYS OTHERWISE, UNDERSTAND?"

"Yeah, okay." The dalek scooted her toward a soft structure. A bed? Perhaps. The metal claws guided her over it, practically pushing her into the fabric. Okay, it was a bed and she found it was pretty comfortable. She draped herself into it, reminded off all the times in the past when she was ill. This was worse than all that and her throat was so sore. "Can I get something to drink?"

Epsilon was way ahead of her, almost already out of the room. "I WILL BE BACK WITH HERBAL TEA."

She smiled at the dalek's insistence to be nurse, even to the point of being rude. She rolled over so that she could lazily kick off her shoes. "Blah, time-travel illnesses," she remarked to no one.

* * *

"I almost lost her," Jack said blankly. She battered him so hard that he knew she left a couple welts. His cells worked fast to heal him, almost as soon as they were inflicted but it bothered him that she had that much fight. "She's not a regular girl, is she?"

"Nope," the Doctor replied, putting a distinct popping sound on the 'p'. He was staring into the monitor, his spectacles in place. His fingers plucked at some of the keys as he filtered through information. "A parallel universe girl that my parallel self threw at me. Well, not on purpose, more like an accidental retrieval. I don't think he even knows I exist. Being the only one in the world kind of does that, makes you think that you are completely alone." He dropped the conversation abruptly, preoccupied with the screen in front of him. "Oh, look at that..._fantastic_, yes. We made a wormhole...," he whispered reverently.

"Wait. We created a _wormhole_?" Jack questioned, looking at the readouts the SIDRAT spat out. He had never heard of anyone succeeding at making one when they were trying, let alone by chance.

"Yup," the Doctor couldn't sound more pleased. He was beaming so much, Jack's heart felt ready to melt. "Both our time traveling devices launched and landed at the exact same instances, the _exact same_ points in space and time. It was not able to stabilize for long but it did make temporary bridge between exit and entry a.k.a. temporary wormhole. Point A connected to Point B and any old spaceship could have passed through it. Well, not any old spaceship but advanced non-time travelly ones could manage."

"That is pretty amazing," Jack consented with a nod. The SIDRAT spat out a long roll of paper; readout after readout after readout. He pulled at the long strip of paper the console continued to feed out until it ripped off. "So where in space are we exactly? The readings are not being very clear..." In fact, it was beyond unclear, just a bunch of zeros and ones that he couldn't decipher.

The Doctor clapped his hands together with mirth, "That's the best part, it's a very out of the way planet known as So'Kopterra III." The Doctor rolled the r's, presumably, how the natives would.

A shiver rolled up Jack's spine, "So'Kopterra III?" He mimiced the accent on the r's, following his example.

"_So'Kopterra III_," the Doctor repeated with relish.

Jack blinked, not understanding the source of amusement here. "Okay, what's so special about So'Kopterra III?"

The Doctor's smile was so big that most of his pearly whites showed. "The origin species is humanoid, so much so, they might as well be called humans. They share the same strengths, weaknesses, even some events in history. Major difference being, they have never had a war. Ever...never ever ever! Never! A species of humans never touched by fear or bloodlust. The most peaceful species on this side of the galaxy or any galaxy!"

"It all comes together," Jack smiled. The Doctor loved the humans of Earth; the way they lived, survived, and loved. He didn't have to mangle logic to understand what the Doctor was so cheerful for. "You really have some obsession with humans."

A piece of paper slid out from under the SIDRAT and skid toward Jack's feet. The Doctor complimented it with his commentary as Jack bent down to pick it up, "You might want to have a glance at that planner. It's got a nice graph of the planet's rotations, both lunar and solar. I know you appreciate orbits and those kinds of things."

Jack traced over some of the phases with his finger, studying it. "Let's call it a hobby, eh? It is very helpful, thanks." The diagrams were simple enough to follow and commit to memory. So'Kopterra III was proving to be a very impressive place. "So, are you planning to stay here for awhile?"

The Doctor shrugged, running a hand along the console absentmindedly. "It's a good pit stop at the very least. I can finally get a feel for who I'm travelling with, you know?"

"Always secondary motives with you," Jack reminisced aloud. There was another reason, there was always another reason, even if the Doctor himself didn't know. But that was something that was the future and now was now. An idea flashed through his mind and he was suddenly under its spell. They were alone, after all. He sauntered toward the Doctor with playful intent, "So when are you going to get a _feel_ for me?" A promise had been bouncing between them for decades, probably centuries at this point and Jack was willing to play ball.

The Doctor inched away, suddenly very occupied by the SIDRAT's controls, "When you get me that drink."

"Is that a date?" Jack asked with glee. He wasn't going to give up the chase, not this one. He had come way too far to stop now. One more step and he was in the Doctor's personal bubble, just over his shoulder, letting his breath caress the other's ear.

"Oh, I dunno," the Doctor said, staring a hole into the SIDRAT. "I mean, I hear So'Kopterra III has amazing nightlife and with the moon being so prominent this time of year...there's probably going to be some festivals and activities that only come once a year. We could maybe...one night have a look at the wonders they produce..." The Doctor levelled his gaze to Jack's and he blushed, not realizing how much space was left between them until then. If they leaned forward just a little more.

"WOULD YOU LIKE SOME TEA?"

Both men awkwardly turned at attention to the dalek's monotone question. Jack leaned back against the SIDRAT's center, "I'll pass but do you have anything alcoholic?"

"NO," Epsilon answered almost before Jack could finish the question. It held a tray of inviting tea and sweets before them, insisting someone partake of its contents.

The Doctor smiled nervously and picked up one of the saucers. "Cheers," he squeaked, sipping the liquid with quaky gusto.


	9. Chapter 9

**Not Your Average Doctor**

by fogdragon23

Disclaimer: I do not own the copyright to Doctor Who. It is property of the BBC. Please support the official release. Thank you.

* * *

**Chapter 9  
**

The orange door of the SIDRAT swung inward as it's pilot peeked out. He opened the door farther so that he could step forward. "Look at that. We're inside," he pointed at the ceiling as Jack hopped out behind him. "A skyline dome all the way across the city like one giant lens." He stomped his foot on the ground, listening to the solid sound it made. "Under us, is at least six feet of solid concrete, if I'm not mistaken. We should take soil samples once we find the outside for future comparisons to Earth. Visually, it looks like Earth's long lost twin, wouldn't you say? ...Jack? Jack?"

Jack spun slowly, admiring the bystanders who continued with their day. "Oh yeah, sure. Long lost sisters, this planet seems to be full of them." He waved at a particular duo, all charm and teeth. "You ladies, have the day off? No? What about a brother?" The pair giggled but carefully denied him any answer as they passed by. "Hm, slightly prudish but that's nothing new." However, he did manage to get the attention of a man in uniform, who jogged up to him.

"Are you the owner of this time vehicle?" the stranger asked, motioning toward the SIDRAT with a hardened frown. This man was in his prime with a very strong build to compliment it. Jack supposed that the badges sewn on his shoulders made him some sort of official. He held in his hand some sort of device that blinked back at him modestly.

"No, that's all his," Jack directed his attention to the Doctor. "I'm just a friend on holiday."

"Sir!" the strange man called to the Doctor, quickly strutting to him. "This is a materialization restricted zone, I'm going to have to report you if you don't move."

"Oh..." the Doctor responded thoughtfully, "no problem, I can get her moved in a jiff if you point me in the right direction."

"The coordinates should be on your schedule, sir," the officer replied.

"Schedule? Oh right, schedule. I'll just check that then..." the Doctor bluffed.

"Sorry, protocol says, I have to view your schedule. May I see it?"

The Doctor smiled back at him warmly as he dug into his pockets. "Why yes, give me a moment...this old thing has a maze of pockets, see? Hard to find a pen let alone papers... Ah hah! Here you are, sir!" He held up a swatch of psychic paper and tapped it importantly, "I trust you will find everything you need there."

The official blinked at the blank document then blinked again, "Minister? You look a lot different in the papers..."

"I may have lost a few pounds and grew a couple inches, but you know how it's like in those timey-wimey machines," the Doctor continued to coax. He had no idea what minister they could be talking about, or what it entailed, but it never hurt to make the story more believable.

The other sniffed importantly, "Last night at the cinema you had pink hair."

The Doctor sensed that the psychic paper was hurting more than helping. "Yeah, well...I thought it was going out of style so I got myself a brown mop. I really wanted ginger but I guess I can always change it later, right?"

The officer remained unamused, "You also had four eyes."

An uncomfortable laugh came from the Doctor. "Perhaps you were mistaken, see I have these," he pulled his glasses from a pocket and dangled them before the other, "See? Easy mistake, a lot of people do it, so don't feel ashamed."

The uniformed man smiled at him for the first time as he raised his starnge device to his lips. "I'm going to need backup, at the Lineus Park entrance. I've got a couple frauds and their time machine..."

Jack's hand fell to his waist nervously. The Doctor ran passed him, bumping him with the back of his hand, "No time for that, come on!" He ran to the SIDRAT almost diving through the door to get to the controls.

The Doctor worked hastily, flicking this switch and that dial. He waited until Jack was safely inside before he pulled the last lever, "We need to get out before..." One of the consoles spat sparks as the grates shook them to the bone. The monitor scrolled through numerous pages of readouts. He ran a hand through his hair in frustration, "...Too late. They placed a field around her. We're not going anywhere..."

Jack let out the breath he was holding, "You want me to talk to them? Maybe I can get ahold of the Agency."

The Doctor mentally calculated their situation, not liking his own estimations. "It can't hurt."

* * *

A deep, persistent humming roused Rose from her sleep. She wasn't sure when but she must have dozed off while waiting for Epsilon to return with tea. A sweet scent reached her nose, a flower? She slowly opened her eyes, taking in the scenery around her. The room was a very familiar gray. Oh that's right, she was on the TARDIS. Wait, not the TARDIS, the SIDRAT. She pondered on the name aloud, "Space in Dimension Relative and Time? Funny thing." Was she really talking to herself? 'Becoming more daft than the Doctor,' she thought. Having enough with the thoughts of herself going crazy, Rose swung her legs over the side of the bed to stand. She wanted to know where the enticing scent was coming from.

Rose exited the medical bay to navigate the hallway outside of it. This time her vision was in much better focus so she was able to marvel at the coral-faced layout of the walkway. It matched the console room in stark contrast to the grayed walls of the medical area. The grating under her feet squeaked and banged from under her footfalls as she reached the console room.

The console room was dark and completely bare. No one manned the navigations or worked secretly under the grates. The only light source that allowed her to guide herself through the room was the glowing green core. An eerie feeling passed over her as she realized this was one of the few times that she was completely alone in the time machine. Forgetting about the delicious scent for now, she approached the illuminated controls.

Static levers and buttons were spread before her, right in reaching distance. It was amazing to think that each device had it's own purpose, it's own designated service that it could perform with only a simple push or pull. She touched one dial lightly, tempted to just give into her childish impulse and give it one good twist. She pulled her hand back when one of the buttons began to flash red. "What's this?"

A white line raced across the center of the monitor before it grew into a full picture. Symbols appeared across the screen in a language that was foreign to her, then the letters separated and morphed into letters she could read. Helpful instructions of 'PRESS TO RELAY RECORDING' spun on the screen playfully.

"Okay, creepy." Rose did as the screen instructed and a new picture filled the screen. The Doctor's face stared back at her unseeingly. He wore a small smile of amusement while he fiddled with some controls off-screen.

He cleared his throat importantly before messing with the position of the screen. "Hullo, Rose? If you managed to find this recording then I want to congratulate you on your idle curiosities and deductive powers. If not, well then you will never see this because I will destroy any evidence of this event ever happening...for... safety reasons, of course. Anyhow, you've probably noticed that neither me or Jack are on board right now due to some, eh...we'll call them mishaps and miscommunication, between us and the locals. Seems materialization is a very restricted practice in the area of our landing...and fraudulent behaviors involving well known political figures, so we've been told to surrender ourselves or face getting ejected back into space without the SIDRAT. Yeah, not too keen on the second option, though now I understand how a whole race of humans can co-exist without war. Can't have a war if you launch your enemies into space first. As curious as I am about the process, I don't think I want to experience it first hand, so Jack and I are going to give them a little hullo."

"On with it, Doc," Jack's voice warned from some indistinct area in the recording. "They aren't going to wait forever."

"Alright, alright," the Doctor answered. His expression turned more serious, "Epsilon is still on the ship with you, or I assume he is. I gave him explicit orders to protect you while I'm away, so don't be alarmed if he's a bit more pushy than normal." The Doctor paused to check on a few more readings, "Let's see, four minutes...okay, good. I can work with that. Rose, no matter what, keep hydrated. Just let Epsilon know what you need and he'll take care of you."

"Keep hydrated?" Rose questioned quietly.

"Just trust me," the recording continued deafly. "Wait, what was I saying before that? Oh yes, space death. I don't want it and he doesn't want it," the Doctor pointed to his right as if she could see who he indicated. "None of us want it. The SIDRAT should be parked in some sort of materialization safe zone by the time you get this, so you don't have to worry about getting arrested. Just don't engage the cranky blokes outside the door, they probably met Jack and didn't like it."

"Jealous that I'm friendly with the locals?" prodded Jack's voice.

The Doctor rolled his eyes, "Not hardly. Is that it? Wait, no. There's that little thing... seriously though, do not come after us, Rose. We will have everything under control and be back on the ship before the day is done, but do not follow us. Do not track us, trail us, or even ask around about us. We will be back for you when everything is settled, I promise."

"Oh sure," Rose breathed with disbelief. He was hiding something, she could see it in his eyes. He always had shifty eyes when he was thinking just a little too hard. "He's hiding something."

"CORRECT."

Rose almost jumped out of her skin. "Oh, Epsilon!" She hastily repressed the button to pause the recording. The dalek stood only a couple paces away, a wide tray resting on it's robotic arms. She was so focused on the recording that she didn't notice the humming of his approach. "Sorry. Um, just watching what the Doctor left for me."

"YOU HAVE BEEN RESTING FOR SIX HOURS. TAKE YOUR TEA." Epsilon demanded.

"Six hours?" Rose repeated. She obediently took a saucer from the tray. "They've been gone for that long then?" Heat from the cup rose to her face in warm tendrils. She took a delicate sip from the cup. Jasmine, was it?

"NEARLY. THE DOCTOR AND CAPTAIN ARE IN QUESTIONING CURRENTLY."

Rose stared at the alien, her mind was still a bit fuzzy. "Oh. Where are we then?" She wanted to watch the rest of the recording, but the alien seemed to know the information just as well.

"WE ARE IN FA'CIATA CITY OF THE HA'WERRS CONTINENT OF THE PLANET SO'KOPTERRA III. IT IS ORBITED BY MOONS; ZAN'THORR AND ASPHO-"

"That's enough, thanks," Rose said hurriedly. "He said they were surrendering. What for?"

"WE HAVE VIOLATED THE CITY'S MATERIALIZATION CODE; ARTICLES FOUR-SIX-SIX B, ARTICLE FOUR-SIX-SIX-NINE A AND B, ARTICLE..."

"S-Stop, never mind that. So how many have we broken in total?" Rose asked, dreading the answer.

"SEVENTEEN," the dalek answered concisely.

"Whoa, they take materialization way too seriously." Then again, she'd never been to a place that had a problem with when and where they landed the police box, dream deities aside. Her mouth rounded into an 'O' in realization, "We have to find the Doctor! What if Luko-what's-his-face makes him pass out while they're out there?" She expected the dalek to protest with some comment about his orders or the dangers outside the SIDRAT, he couldn't have proved her more wrong.

"WHILE YOU WERE RESTING, I WIRELESSLY COMPROMISED A SMALL PART OF THEIR INFERIOR SECURITY SYSTEM. I I HAVE BEEN VIEWING THEIR NEGOTIATIONS FROM MY INTERNAL MONITOR. WATCH." It spun it's head so that it faced a wall. The blue of Epsilon's eye-stalk intensified until a holographic image filled the space next to them.

"Wow, good work." Rose openly appreciated the dalek's handiwork. The images were so vivid that it was like they were actually there, laying stomach-down on the floor. She briefly wondered why anyone would have a security camera on the floor. This thought was quickly answered when the camera slithered forward. A menu opened up, flashing in helpful green letters that it was running a scan. Many boxes and lines drew themselves across the image, tagging faces with names and general statistics. A table surrounded by many important looking humanoids loomed over the camera, some sitting and some standing. The auditory sensors picked up some distant mumbling from the discussion at hand.

"ADVANCING," Epsilon monotoned. The camera shivered, it seemed it was still trying to fight off the insistences of the dalek. The shivering gradually ceased and the camera continued it's course along the floor.

Many pairs of shoes and table legs whirred past them, until it paused at a familiar pair of converse. The brightly colored shoes scrunched and stretched as the man inside them rocked nervously on his heels. Next to him, was a sturdy pair of brown boots. Unlike their neighbor, they were firmly planted to the ground. Suddenly one of the boots kicked at the camera, making it coil on itself and stare up at the two familiar men. The bottom of the table obscured one of them but the other was standing far enough away to look back at them. A box appeared, tagging a name to the face but Rose needed little reminding.

Captain Jack Harkness stared back at the camera evenly, a mischievous smile drawn on his lips. "Your snake buddies are not making this any easier," he remarked to someone off-screen.

"They are an... extra precaution," explained a voice Rose had never heard before. It was male and had a slight purr in its syllables that was most prominent in the r's.

"Is that their leader," Rose asked aloud.

"INVESTIGATING." The camera jerked into a hard left to face a different row of feet.

Rose's throat began to tingle as the camera obeyed Epsilon's orders. It was a scratchy feeling, like she had inhaled some really thick dust. Her eyes widened as she remembered that the recording had warned her about needing the kitchen. "E-Epsilon, I need water...qui-quickly!" The scratchy feeling was getting increasingly worse. An involuntary cough escaped her and her lungs burned with pins and needles.

The holographic image blinked off as the dalek rushed to her aid. "THIS WAY." It glided its way across the floor toward a very solid wall. The wall quivered then grew into another hallway, similar to the one she used earlier. With little time to be awed by the spectacle, she followed the alien to the kitchen. The second she caught a glimpse of a sink through the door, she rushed in, leaving the dalek to come in on its own time. Her coughing fits got more and more violent as she tore open a couple cabinet doors to find some cups. Despite some fumbling, she was able to get water into the cup and gulp it down.

The cool liquid felt soothing against her inflamed throat. Each successive swallow gave her more and more relief from the pain. Between her swallows, thoughts of the Doctor's recording kept springing to mind. 'Keep hydrated,' he said, like he knew exactly what was going to happen to her. She felt solidified on her thoughts of him hiding secrets from her, this Doctor tested her trust and she wasn't sure how she should respond. He was so reassuring on the recording, so _caring_, and it was absolutely infuriating. She knew he wanted her to stay here, safe and sound, until who knows whenever him and Jack found their way back and she couldn't have that. She wasn't just some girl he could dump off on every adventure, he wanted her to travel the stars with him, right? Then why wait? Why not start now? She had so many questions she needed answered and he was the only one that could. She took another gulp of her water. "The Doctor can play his little games but we'll give him a little boost. You with me, Epsilon?"

Epsilon barely waited to answer, "I WILL FIX WHAT IS BROKEN."


	10. Chapter 10

**Not Your Average Doctor**

by fogdragon23

Disclaimer: I do not own the copyright to Doctor Who. It is property of the BBC. Please support the official release. Thank you.

* * *

**Chapter 10**

"I think this has to be the most comfortable cell I've ever been in," Jack remarked from a well-stuffed sofa. They had offered no resistance when the Council had them moved to this new area. It was like a vacation compared to the table they were forced to huddle around before. They were rushed to this room abruptly mid-meeting, when a messenger entered and whispered some concerning news to each of the Council members.

When they were told they were going to be detained elsewhere, Jack had expected the usual bars, stone walls, and single windows that prisons were so fond of. Yet, here they were isolated in a well-lit room full of plush chairs and books, lots of books. He was bothered that they had taken his vortex manipulator, his right wrist felt so bare without it. He understood that they were leery of them having another time travelling device, but it didn't keep him from rubbing his empty wrist.

"That's a matter of opinion. I think it's less of a cell and more of a waiting area," the Doctor observed as he scanned the room over with his sonic screwdriver.

Jack felt a small stroke of jealousy that the Doctor was able to keep his device while he had to give his up. But that was all water under the bridge at this point. Jack spotted a bowl of apples on a nearby table and quickly plucked one out of its nest. "Same difference, just a fancier word. Do you think we get room service? I could go for a drink," he added, before taking a nice sized bite from the fruit. "_Mmm_, tart."

The Doctor kept silent as he continued to inspect the room, tapping on a couple walls and pulling some books from their respective shelves. He opened one of the books and stroked a page with a hand, "Hm, regular pulp cellulose. That's comforting, they must have grass or trees somewhere."

"Outside the city, I would suppose. It's not that rare of a practice for big colonies," Jack added his input, recalling similar instances. Though they had very little time to experience the city in its fullness, he deducted this city was bustling and too crowded for trees to grow comfortably. He decidedly changed the topic to something more relevant to their situation, "Too bad the Council didn't seem to like us much. I guess your terrible landing ticked them off."

"I landed _fine_," the Doctor remarked as he switched books and began flipping through the new one. "It's not because of me that they enacted materialization laws..._Wait_."

Jack stretched himself leisurely. He enjoyed the plush resistance that pressed on his back, apple in hand. "What?"

The Doctor's mouth fell open like some curtain in his mind suddenly dropped. The book in his hand clapped shut in his grip. "Oh! I'm such a dunce sometimes! They knew that my SIDRAT was a time machine pretty much on-site, which means they've seen something like it before...a lot. This must be a refueling center! Why didn't I notice this before?! I've been so naïve! How could I be so thick? I'm still such a child! Just a useless, noisy child!"

"Doc, get a hold of yourself! There's other ways to travel through time without the use of a TARDIS," Jack reasoned, trying to calm the erratic time lord. "My vortex manipulator, for one."

"That's exactly the problem," the Doctor replied. He sounded so apologetic that it gave Jack chills. The Doctor quietly re-shelved the books he had taken, looking like he'd been shot by his best friend. "Your vortex manipulator doesn't need to refuel like the SIDRAT does. TARDISes need with extra energy to keep functioning...never mind, I won't bore you with things you already know."

"So what you're getting at is, they have a landing field for refueling bioships and the SIDRAT might not be the only time machine out there." Jack tore off another piece of the apple in his teeth and chewed it thoughtfully. On one hand, this was great news, potentially there were other survivors of the Time War besides the Doctor. The problem was, they had no way of knowing who, and from the Doctor's stories, not all the Time Lords were exactly pleasant. "We need to get to the materialization zone."

The Doctor turned to Jack, worry flashing in his eyes. "Oh no... _Rose_!"

* * *

"DALEKS DO NOT NEED INFERIOR PLANTLIFE FOR IDENTIFICATION!" Epsilon stated, not so delicately, to a guard that tried to stop them from leaving the platform. "I AM EPSILON OF THE EPSILON UNIT, ENGINEER FOR THE DALEKS! STEP ASIDE!"

The guard appeared to be torn between the want to flee and the requirements of his job. "I...uh...I need papers!"

Rose stood to aside, watching the dalek verbally steamroll the guard. She didn't bother helping or stopping the dalek, preferring to watch the armored alien deal with issues on his own. She noticed the other guards didn't come to the victim's aid either, they also remained spectators to the event. They visibly wanted nothing to do with a dalek.

Epsilon rose its grabbing device menacingly, "I WILL SPEAK WITH YOUR SUPERIOR ON THIS IMPLICATION! GET YOUR SUPERIOR!" The compartment where its other arm should have been opened and a thin stream of water attacked the shaken guard, "OBEY! OBEY!"

Rose was barely able to contain her laughter at the dalek's actions. She walked up to Epsilon's side as the guard scurried off, either to do as the dalek ordered or to be far, far away from them. "You sure showed him up."

"HE IS WEAK. IF HE WERE DALEK, HE WOULD BE EXTERMINATED."

Rose nodded. "I can see that. You dalek lot have your stuff together, don't you?"

"STUFF?" Epsilon asked as they both proceeded off the platform. "DALEK DO NOT CARRY RANDOM PARAPHERNALIA."

"Don't give me that. You know what I mean," Rose scolded lightly. "You know; stuff, priorities, objectives. It's all pretty straightforward with you."

"WE FOLLOW ORDERS," Epsilon supplied.

"I've noticed. So um, doesn't you working with the Doctor go against your instinct or something? I was pretty sure he's supposed to be your enemy." Rose was deeply curious about how a dalek could travel with the Doctor and set aside all the hate that she knew were hidden inside the armor. She was suspicious, then again, the dalek was probably just as curious about her.

"ONLY THE DOCTOR IS LEFT TO GIVE ORDERS," Epsilon answered shortly.

"Hm, good point," Rose agreed. She recalled her first dalek from the other dimension. It was different than the usual dalek as well, a little of that was her fault. Maybe this Doctor did the same for this dalek. This was a parallel universe, right? "Um, this is a stupid question but when you first met the Doctor...er. He said he found you. Did he repair you in some way?"

Epsilon took awhile to respond, perhaps it was struggling with its memory, Rose wasn't sure. "YES. HE GAVE ME HIS ENERGY."

"Energy? How? By touch?" Could it be possible that this was that same dalek the proper Doctor and her discovered in Utah? Of course, she wasn't involved with it in this reality, but the Doctor was.

"CORRECT."

Rose felt her heart skip in triumph. "Oh wow! I know you!"

"I AM EPSIL-"

"No, I really really know you! You're that dalek that I saved that time! You look well for yourself! Good job!" She gave the dalek a hardy pat on its back. "The bow-tie is a little different though. I like it!" She swallowed when she remembered the fate of the other dalek, "I'm sorry about what happened in your other life. Really."

Epsilon braked and turned toward her, critically looking her over with its eye-stalk. "YOU SOUND LIKE THE DOCTOR."

This made her smile fall. "It's just exciting, you know? Not everyday you meet parallel lives," she mumbled. "But you're right, I do sound like the daffy Doctor." She liked the way that sounded 'daffy Doctor' it was kind of catchy. She would have to test it on him later and see what happens.

"You there!" came a new voice. Another officer in a suit was running up to them, the guard from earlier was at her heels. "I am the overseer you asked for, Captain Aves Lu'Na. My subordinate here says you wanted to speak to me about our policies?" She was a head taller than Rose and almost as thin as the Doctor. Her hair was platinum and just barely long enough to fit into a hair-tie at the back of her head. A couple stray strands of her bangs defiantly spilled onto her forehead.

Rose motioned to the dalek, "He was the one that demanded to see you but I've talked it over with him and he's alright now. But we are missing some of our friends. See, we came in on the SIDRAT over there and I guess our pilot was apprehended while we weren't looking. I don't suppose you can lead us to where he might be?"

The Captain peered down at her without betraying any outward emotions. "You are part of that time machine fiasco, then? Hmph, I thought the crew was supposed to be more threatening. Your dalek doesn't even have a weapon!"

"We're just travellers, we don't need weapons," Rose explained. "But you can help us, right?"

Captain Lu'na sighed as she relented. She motioned for a couple of the guard to join them. "Alright, come along. I can show you to the Detentionary."

Rose's brows knit together in confusion as she followed the high official. "_Detentionary_? What's that?"

"Where the High Council meets the emergency cases. Your friends all have caused quite a stir in our little community; providing false ID, landing in our restricted zone, perversely hitting on our defenders of the law, and impersonating one of our allied Ministers. The Council made them first priority, needless to say."

Rose blinked as she filtered through the information. How was it even possible to mess up that badly from landing? When the Doctor experienced bad luck, he really experienced bad luck. "Oh, that bad huh?"

"Yeah. That bad," Lu'Na snapped roughly.

Rose didn't bother to keep the Captain talking, it wasn't worth listening to her hostile tones. Instead, she busied herself with observing the city before her. It was like being inside a giant warehouse with a glass ceiling. Great big buildings were crammed side-by-side along the edges of the cement lane. Each building had its own little marketplace on the street level. She guessed all the residential areas were on the higher levels, judging by the many bits of laundry and blankets that hung from lines above.

Their escort passed through a clothes market and Rose was accosted by garments of my colors. Natives haggled over prices loudly, completely ignoring the show of force that needled through their crowd. This place reminded Rose of London during Christmas, without the chilly temperatures. After she found the Doctor, she was going to go store hopping and that was that. It was such a shame that her mother wasn't here to experience this. This sort of thing had her mother's name all over it. Perhaps sometime in the future, she could take her here and they'd have a joint shopping day.

"See that?" Captain Lu'Na asked, pointing at a bunch of taller buildings ahead of them. "That's our destination. Just keep close and you'll see your friend in no time."

The buildings in the distance were part of what looked like a separate district. The windows were much larger and didn't carry a hint of laundry hanging to dry. "Impressive," Rose admired. "Are they all the way at the top or something?"

"Nah, not on the very top," the Captain answered. "But I hope you're ready for a hike."

"Yeah," Rose answered doubtfully. What a curious place to put suspected criminals in such tall buildings. Was there really that many emergency cases? Surely the building had other purposes. It had to, right?

* * *

Jack tossed the last of his apple core into a garbage bin. "Well, I'm fed up with waiting. Wanna try the windows?"

The Doctor was startled from his nerved-up thoughts. "Yes, no...er, I meant no." He had shrugged off his overcoat and was sitting at a table near the mentioned windows. From this height, the street appeared to be the width of a snake. "I like living, personally."

"Come on, what's a couple more regenerations?" Jack joked mildly.

The Doctor smiled and shook his head slowly. "If it was that easy, I'd have burned through thousands of them by now. As it is, I keep what I've got for as long as I can. Well, unless the situation calls for it. I may have done some stupid things in the past. I was what you could call a daredevil in my younger years."

Jack pulled a chair opposite of the Doctor and sat down. He placed his arms on the table, ready to listen. "Alright, let's hear about it. I know that reminiscing-Time-Lord look."

The Doctor's brows raise incredulously, "Oh, do you then? Well, I'm going to disappoint you because I was thinking about Rose. You know, the girl whose life may be threatened this very moment?"

It was Jack's turn to be sceptical, "Come on, do you really think she's still in the SIDRAT?"

"If I did, I wouldn't be so worried," the Doctor muttered.


	11. Chapter 11

**Not Your Average Doctor**

by fogdragon23

Disclaimer: I do not own the copyright to Doctor Who. It is property of the BBC. Please support the official release. Thank you.

_Author's Note: Hey guys, just dropping this here to let you know that I intend on going back and fixing the canon mistakes at the beginning of this fic, and rework some of the flow, so it's more pleasant to read. I know I should have been more responsible with it and double check all my information before posting, but I really needed to upload my plot bunnies before they scampered away, or I ran out of creative juice to keep going. So look forward to those fixes! I also just noticed I haven't been capitalizing my alien species and the Void, I'm sorry if it annoyed anyone while reading. I will write future chapters with the correct capitalization. Thank you and I hope you enjoy this chapter and the chapters to come! :)_

* * *

**Chapter 11**

They came upon, what Rose assumed to be, the lobby of their destination. Wide windows stretched around the perimeter only interrupted by a series of sturdy columns. Guards were also stationed at each pillar, their white uniforms almost made them blend into the columns. It vaguely reminded Rose of an empty airport. Curious looking platforms, that only reached Rose's ankle, dotted the floor in circular patterns. They briefly reminded her of the strange writings the Doctor did on sticky notes in his console room. Teleporters, maybe? She tapped Epsilon's side with a knuckle and nodded to a cluster of platforms, "What do you make of those?"

The dalek studied the objects for a moment. "ATOM TRANSMITTERS OR PSIONIC DISPLACEMENT TECHNOLOGY. MY DATABASE SHOWS COMPARITABLE SIMILARITIES BETWEEN THEM. FURTHER VISUAL INPUT IS REQUIRED FOR FULL ANALYSIS."

"Inside voices, please," pipped up a new voice from the desk in front of them. The desk curled around a formidable central column that appeared to spear vertically through the building. Several workers dotted the desk, doing various scheduled tasks. Each worker had their own section of desks as designated by thin lines, to separate their work areas. The employee that spoke to them was sitting a couple spots left of the central desk. It was a girl around Rose's age maybe a couple years older. Her brunette hair poured over each of her shoulders and she wore a deep green uniform that appeared to be the required dress code. The front of her workspace was helpfully illuminated by a white-lighted sign that read 'IN SERVICE'. "Hi, I'm Polly. Is there something I can do for you?"

The Captain was the first to reach the desk. She pulled an odd looking contraption from her hip and handed it to the worker. "We have some individuals that request to see the perpetrators of the materialization event earlier."

The desk-girl pressed a couple buttons on the device and attentively scanned through its readouts. "Oh, the funny chaps with the long coats? I'll see what I can do, but their case revision has been delayed for the moment."

Rose stood as close to the desk as the escort let her, to see where the girl was getting her information from. A couple piles of papers were near her, but she didn't even have to glance at them to give them the information. "Excuse me, but why," Rose asked.

"I do not have sufficient information on that matter, miss," the girl answered without skipping a beat.

A withering look from the Captain gave Rose pause. She felt justified in speaking up either way.

"If you want to leave a message for your friends I can be of service or," Polly pointed to an archway that lead to a different room, "our waiting room is just over there if you want to have a seat."

"Very well," the Captain affirmed. "I will leave a couple of the guard with you and be on my way. "Locke, Briggs, I will hand over the escort duties to you. Report back after an hour."

The two guards saluted the Captain before she gathered the other guards and left.

Rose gave the lady a mischievous smile. "You said I could leave a message?"

Polly straightened out her uniform out of habit, "It will have to pass through the Council first, but yes, you can give them a message. Just give me one moment."

* * *

A mechanical voice politely interrupted the two men. "You have received an message. Will you allow playback in your reading station?"

Both the Doctor and Jack searched the room for another occupant but found none.

"Will you allow playback in your reading station?" the disembodied voice repeated.

"Yes," they both answered in unintended unison.

A series of three beeps echoed through the room before the message was relayed. "I don't know what to say, couldn't you - um, hey Doctor, Rose here. I'm sitting down here with Epsilon, waiting for whatever. We're both in one piece so far and...yeah. See you later, I guess."

All the while, the Doctor was grinning. "Look at her, coming to help the Doctor. Such a handful, keeping me on my toes! I would prefer her in the TARDIS but I guess I can make do."

"You have a plan then?"

The Doctor only smiled back at Jack, his eyes shifting innocently.

Jack let out a breath as he surmised the answer, "Winging it again?"

"My best plans are spur of the moment. Not that it always works, it still works over half of the time... on most days. I did think of a couple options though. One, we wait as we have been and probably have the same result as present. Two, we could pound through that door if you have some good kicking shoes. Three, well I'm not very partial to three so I'd rather leave that one alone."

A flash of white from the street diverted the Doctor's attention, "What was that?"

Jack immediately checked out the window, scanning the city before them. "I didn't see anything..."

"It was a flash, like a reflection of something down there." The Doctor peered down to the street below. A pedestrian laid out in front of a building across the way. He couldn't make out any specifics about the person from this distance but they appeared to have tripped. A couple moments passed and they laid as still as when the Doctor spotted them. A crowd began to form around the fallen citizen and one dropped to their side to check vitals.

Jack blinked down at the street too. "A heart attack?"

"Perhaps," the Doctor affirmed while watching the scene below. "Doesn't explain the glint. It was fast, too fast to catch."

Jack tapped the Doctor's arm and pointed to the edge of another building. "That thing look familiar to you, Doc?"

This was indeed the shape of another person but it was much bigger than its fellows. Metal covered every inch of its body, its body glinting eerily as it moved. It was moving at a sickeningly even pace, its purpose unhindered by the citizens.

"Oh, no." The sight was all too familiar and it made the Doctor's gut turn as it neared the crowd. "How did – we have to get down there. Save locking it in a room, these people won't know how to deal with it."

The Doctor backed away from the window. His leg bumped against the chair that held his coat and hurried to put the garment on. "That doesn't make sense. They were supposed to stay trapped in the void. I saw it in the vortex, they were swallowed with the daleks. They didn't even have a leader, how could they escape on their own?"

Jack couldn't make sense of the Doctor's disjointed ramblings. "Doc, help me out here. What's going on in that brain of yours?"

The Doctor swallowed hard before answering, "Cybermen."

Jack hated to see the Doctor like this. He became so clumsy when something caught him off-guard, it was like watching a despairing child trying to fix a complex puzzle. "We are getting out of here," Jack growled. He grabbed his coat from a chair and crossed to the door. His fist beat against the wood like a giant gavel, "Hey! Open the door!" But the door remained solid and unmovable. Jack spun around, approaching the Doctor, "Doc."

"Huh?" The Doctor slowly turned to him, questioningly. "What are you - I don't like that look, Jack. Um, you can't be thinking of- we can find an easier way, we can-" Before the Doctor could continue to logic to his companion that this was a terrible idea, Jack had thrown his overcoat on top of him, blocking his view of the room. He planted his shoulder firmly onto the Doctor's ribcage. "Ja-Jack!" He firmly lifted the Doctor onto his shoulder and ran through the glass that stood between them and the city. Shards of glass ripped though his flesh like jagged daggers, some large and some small. The Doctor remained unscathed, inside his coat, but his rigid muscles betrayed his terror. "JACK!"

After a temporary feeling of weightlessness, air whipped passed Jack's ears as they both arched into the descent, toward the ground below. He let out a cry of triumph, thrilled at feeling adrenaline wash through his veins. They began to tip in midair, from the addition of the Doctor's weight, and Jack had to think fast. If he let them go headfirst, this was going to be a very short rescue. With minimal time left to change their fate, he pulled the Doctor close to his chest and let them fall.

* * *

A piercing scream tore through the lobby and into the waiting room where Rose sat. She made her way to the nearest window and peeked outside. A large group of people were gathering to the edge of Rose's allotted view, something undefined rustled at their feet. Several workers from the other room scrambled from their stations to go investigate the scene.

Rose glared accusingly at the pair of guards assigned to her, "Well aren't you going to help or just stare at me all day?" The pair looked between themselves and one pulled a communication device from their belt, not immediately helping the situation at hand. "Well, I'm not staying here," Rose stated to the guards and Epsilon before she stood from her seat.

"WAIT!" Epsilon snapped, making her pause from her resolve. "I HAVE ORDERS TO PROTECT ROSE TYLER."

"Then hurry up with it!" Rose stalked around the dalek and began to push the armored alien out of the building.

"THIS IS NOT DIGNIFIED!" Epsilon protested, its eye-stalk bobbing pathetically.

"Your top speed on your own is like two miles an hour when your running! Now hush." Rose wasn't going to be persuaded from getting her way, even if she had to push a giant pepper pot across a disciplinary building. She was alerted to the sound of running feet behind her as her guards finally decided to investigate.

As they skidded around the last corner to go out the entrance, she saw the glimmer of something tall and metallic over where the crowd stood. She very distinctly remembered seeing that kind of metal before, but it couldn't be, could it? "Epsilon I want a scan on that big bloke."

"SCANNING IN PROGRESS. IDENTIFYING ALIEN SPECIMEN AS CYBERMEN, NOT NATIVE TO SO'KOPTERRA III. SPECIMEN SHOWS TRACES OF ACTIVE VOID MATTER. THREAT LEVELS ARE AT THEIR HIGHEST. DO NOT TOUCH, DO NOT TOUCH!" Epsilon had given in to its fate of being pushed around until it finished the readout. It tried to steer Rose to a different direction, away from the cybernetic giant.

"Wait, wait, wait!" Part of the crowd dispersed, running away from the new danger, so that Rose could see what laid at the Cyberman's feet. The back of an all too familiar brown coat brought her to action. "Doctor!" she cried as she hustled to the group, ditching Epsilon's side.

"STEP AWAY FROM THE SPECIMEN," the Cyberman drawled mechanically as she drew nearer.

"No!" the Doctor snapped back. He was on his knees, cradling a woman Rose had never seen before. She covered her mouth as she noticed thin trails of blood came from a second body on the opposite side of the Doctor. Her eyes felt hot as she realized the body was Jack's, his face looked blankly into the sky; breathless, motionless, dead. She pushed people aside to kneel by his body, despair written across her face. A strange tickle brushed the back of her throat.

The Cyberman's neck made mechanical sounds as it craned its head toward the Doctor. "NEW IDENTIFICATION IS HUMAN. SPECIMEN MATCHES THE TEMPLATE. YOU WILL RELEASE THE HUMAN."

"This is not Earth, these are not humans!" the Doctor defended, still protectively hovering over the woman that remained limp in his arms. "You are on a different planet, different star system. You must listen, these people will only die if you assimilate them."

"THE HUMAN MATCHES THE TEMPLATE, THEY MUST BE CONVERTED," the Cyberman responded stubbornly. It reached out now with a metal-clad hand, intending to either steal the helpless victim from the Doctor or to destroy the one who protected her. A stream of clear water splashed the Cyberman from a spout hidden in the crowd.

"YOU WILL CEASE THIS ACTION IMMEDIATELY!" Epsilon pushed through the crowd, its water attachment open and ready.

The Cyberman turned toward the new threat, towering over the Dalek. "NEW ADVERSARY IS DALEK. MODEL: UNKNOWN. DESIGNATION: UNKNOWN. CREATOR: DAVROS. WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS ORDER?"

"STEP AWAY FROM THE DOCTOR! AWAY! AWAY!" Epsilon demanded.

"A SINGLE DALEK IS NOT THREATENING TO THE CYBERMEN. YOU WILL BE DELETED." The Cyberman lift its arm and leveled it at Epsilon's eye-stalk. The barrel of a laser weapon stared back at the Dalek.

"THE CYBERMEN ARE OF A BROKEN TECHNOLOGY. I WILL FIX WHAT IS BROKEN!" Epsilon's tiny claws worked fast to dismantle the arm gun and render it useless.

The Cyberman pulled back its arm, inspecting the dalek's work. "WEAPON SYSTEM IS DOWN BUT STILL OPERATIONAL." The Cyberman stepped forward and brought its fist down onto Epsilon's head plate.

The Dalekanium held up against the bash attack but steadily began to crack as the Cyberman leaned with more of its weight. Epsilon's claws raked at the joints in the other's mechanical hand, teasing out small wires that it began to snip and rip.

As the two battlers continued their skirmish, Rose thought she saw Jack twitch through her welling tears. She opened her mouth multiple times to get the Doctor's attention, but the fire at the back of her throat made her too dry to make noise. She pawed at the hem of his coat and tugged at the fabric. She was rewarded by a concerned glance. She gestured toward Jack and the Doctor's skin lost some of its color.

"Here, Rose," he offered her a steady hand, "leave him for now."

She shook her head and managed a verbal squeak. He needed to know that Jack moved, that Jack was still alive! Maybe if they could only get him out of the street, he could be saved.

"Haven't kept up with your water have you?" the Doctor asked her in warm tones. His hand dropped to his side, acknowledging that she wouldn't take it. "Be careful and pace yourself. If you run dry, you are done." His eyes shifted to Jack's body for an instant, and he slowly scooped up the prone woman into his arms, "In a moment, you will need to run. I'll be right behind, do not look back. Okay?"

Rose nodded, her throat was starting to feel like needles again. She was going to confront him about this as soon as she was able to speak again. Her shoes scraped the ground as she positioned herself to run away from the scene. Something dark and furry brushed against her hand and the Doctor barked, "RUN!"


	12. Chapter 12

**Not Your Average Doctor**

by fogdragon23

Disclaimer: I do not own the copyright to Doctor Who. It is property of the BBC. Please support the official release. Thank you.

* * *

**Chapter 12**

Rose wasn't the most athletic girl but she could sprint short distances no problem with the right motivation. Whatever had brushed against her hand was enough to send her down the street like a human-shaped cheetah, no question. The echo of shoes behind her reassured her that the Doctor was indeed right behind and not foolishly trying to be hero. An alleyway opened to her right and she took it, almost running one of her knees into the corner of the building. Her ears could still pick up the sounds of a great scuffle, only now there was some added growling that she was certain neither Dalek nor Cybermen could make. Her pace slowed as her curiosity was perked.

"No, no, no!" the Doctor warned as he met up with her. He was careful to not hit his burden's head on the corner of the alleyway. "Keep going, don't look back!"

Rose gazed at him with seriousness and tapped the flesh of her throat. The feeling was back again, of needles and fire.

"I know it's annoying ," the Doctor relented, "you have to be patient until we can get you water."

Rose rolled her eyes and continued down the alleyway.

The Doctor cleared his throat as he quickly moved behind her. "You are probably wondering what happened back there, right? Jack and I were minding our own business up in the uh, what did they call it, the Detentionary? Yes, we were up in the Detentionary when I got your very impressively composed message. I enjoyed it by the way; it was short, sweet, and to the point. Anyway, we witnessed that Cyberman coming after this girl with deadly intent so we, uh, well we had to stop the Cyberman and Jack, hm...wait, I think I need to back up. Jack is not your conventional human. He gets furry and wolfy sometimes."

Rose spun around and motioned her hands into a "timeout" sign, then curled up her fingers to mimic claws.

"No, he's human...um, mostly human. I suppose 'mostly not alien' would be a proper explanation."

Rose blinked at him with wide eyes. A 'mostly not alien' werewolf? Really?

"Correct. You see, um, Lycanthropy did not originate from Earth. Lycans come from an outer rim sort of galaxy, hence they have nasty tempers and a terrible sense of humor, but Jack isn't that. Because their lifestyles were so violent and short, they evolved to transmit their genetic code with a quicker mode than your traditional...uh, traditional...reproductive...mixing. They did it with their own saliva, one bite and boom! Your very own Lycan hybrid. Brilliant stuff! Borderline genius, I think. Too bad most Lycans are so thorough with their kills."

His companion inclined her head a little and mimed biting her own hand.

"Yes, no...no, not exactly like that. Um, Jack's time-line had an unfortunate encounter with the Vortex some time ago, so it tampered with certain events in his life and made him into a Lycan hybrid. He made out with some decent abilities too; longer lifespan, regenerative healing, almost impossible to kill except with certain off-world metals."

A thoughtful look appeared on Rose's face then she grabbed the lobe of her ear purposely.

"Got an ear ache?"

She stomped her foot impatiently and repeated the gesture.

"Ear...ear lobe. Earring. Oh! Silver! Just like silver, clever you! The Lycans tried to destroy all the silver in the universe, but met their match on Earth multiple times in quite a few of your countries, even early Greece. It's a shame they don't teach this sort of stuff in children's history, it'd make very nice project. Grade A stuff, this is!"

Rose reached the end of the alleyway and paused. Her fingers tugged at something invisible in front of her neck as she looked at the Doctor worriedly.

The Doctor smiled back, proud of his companion. "You're nervous for a Dalek?" He continued after her silence, "Trust me, the only thing more dangerous than a Dalek bred to kill, is a Dalek bred to repair itself."

A clattering sound erupted behind them, and a good share of the crowd from before could be seen fleeing for their lives. Rose looked back and witnessed a black beast climbing across the face of a building. Her mouth fell open in awe that this was presumably her friend changed by the will of the Vortex. She didn't have much time to stare at him before the beast lunged at them, maw agape and snarling. She wasn't even aware that he had looked in their direction.

The Doctor glanced back and his movements became more inspired. "Alright, keep going! SIDRAT's this way...roughly." He spent a lot less time dawdling now, with the sound of crashing and growling behind them.

Rose did as he instructed. They hustled through a market, the shoppers barely glancing their way, despite the girl the Doctor held in his arms. Even in their dire situation, Rose found it odd that no one bother to stop or even question them. It wasn't until Jack's furred form appeared when the consumers decided to ditch their daily shopping and scatter. The newly startled mob hindered their passage more than either of them cared for.

Some guards pushed passed the Doctor with gun-like devices and immediately fired. The projectiles didn't have the same impact that Rose expected, they did little else but disgruntle the horse-sized Lycan. Jack's discomfort was marked by a deep grunt. He easily smacked the guards out of his way with large, furred claws.

For Rose, the rest was a blur filled with running and struggling to breathe. The orange exterior of the SIDRAT was a very welcoming sight as they finally managed to discover the materialization zone. A surprise also met them at the platform, sitting firmly by the time machine.

"Oh, Epsilon," the Doctor said heavily as they approached the battle-scarred Dalek.

Half of its dome was dented inward grotesquely. The eye-stalk moved but it would return to its former position like it was suffering hidden difficulties. A chunk of his armor, just below the dome, was completely missing. "DOCTOR," Epsilon acknowledged in its regular monotone.

Rose was compelled to help the dalek but she wasn't sure how. She reached out to it and the Dalek backed away. "LIVE WIRES HAVE BEEN EXPOSED, I CANNOT GUARANTEE THE OUTER SHELL'S SAFETY. DIAGNOSIS IS IN PROGRESS."

"Can you pop open the door there, Rose?" the Doctor asked with strain. "My arms are getting a little sore."

Rose hesitated, not sure how she was to open a locked SIDRAT. Then she remembered, she didn't lock the SIDRAT and neither had Epsilon. Guiltily, she gave the entrance of the time machine a small push and she heard a disagreeable noise come from the Doctor. If her throat didn't feel so stiff, she would have apologized.

* * *

The Doctor rushed his patient to the Medical Bay as Epsilon lead Rose back to the kitchen. She had barely got herself settled down before a gallon of water was shoved at her by a metal claw. The absurdity of the container made her give a half-smile. She took a nice-sized swallow and the needles receded again. She cleared her throat to make a smart comment, "Live wires, huh?"

"DIAGNOSIS COMPLETED. MY OUTER SHELL IS NOT A DANGER."

"Are...are you alright?"

The Dalek's eye-stalk tried to look back at her, but it still stubbornly returned to its prior position. "I CAN BE FIXED. THE DETENTIONARY HAD FUNCTIONING TRANSPORT."

Rose recalled the odd objects that littered the floor of the Detentionary. So that was how he escaped. A thought crossed Rose's mind, "And the Cyberman?" She hardly had to think back to remember the last time she had seen the cyborg, it was winning against the smaller Dalek. What had actually taken place between the two battlers, she could only guess.

"IT CAN BE FIXED," was Epsilon's simple answer.

Rose gave her head a gentle shake, "No, I mean what happened to it?"

A silence stretched between them and it unsettled her. "IT CAN BE FIXED," Epsilon repeated and Rose quickly became uncomfortable with the conversation.

They both sat in the quiet for a few moments before the Doctor rejoined them. "And how are things here? I see neither of you are dead, but a bit worse for wear."

"Fine," Rose responded, her voice cracked oddly. "How's the lady?"

"Not as fine as I hoped," the Doctor admitted. He clasped his hands behind his back, "She's uh, her vitals are all regular, there's no physical abnormalities. Good news in itself, but as far as I can tell, she's stuck... sleeping."

"Sandman?"

"I...I don't know. If anyone should be falling asleep spontaneously, it should be me. But all that is something we need to worry about at a later point. Right now, I'm going to rebuild my team." He pointed to Epsilon then Rose, "Check and check. Jack's going to be a little more tricky."

"I CAN FIX-"

"Not in the your state," the Doctor reasoned. "A wounded Dalek is no help against a healthy Lycan."

"I ONLY REQUIRE MINOR REPAIRS. DALEKS DO NOT NEED-"

"Don't give me that, I saw you hesitate at Rose. I'm going to give you a nice look over before you strain yourself further."

"BUT-"

"Not negotiable," the Doctor finalized. "But I won't be cold to you, if you really want to help then open up." He fished out his sonic instrument and tapped it on the Dalek's armor rhythmically. "Come on, what? Do Daleks lack all emotion except shy modesty? Rose doesn't mind seeing a little bit of tentacle. Do you, Rose?"

Rose shook her head, trying to seem encouraging, but not rudely so. "I don't mind if Epsilon doesn't." She heard a distant click, then the layer of metal reserved for the Dalek's weapons split open like twin doors. She couldn't help stretching her neck a little more to see inside the metal coating.

The Doctor knelt down for a better vantage, sonic screwdriver laying lax in his grasp. "Hello there, sunshine, you're looking well enough. These cables need a little maintenance, but that's nothing to cry over. Oh, what's that?" The Doctor prodded at something just out of Rose's view.

"INQUIRY IS NOT RELEVANT."

The Doctor obviously didn't believe the Dalek's comment. "How odd that I'm reading some feedbacks of over-encumbrance. Have you been picking up garbage while you were out there?"

"GARBAGE IMPLIES UNUSABLE WASTE."

"Does it then? I'm going to have to ask you to reveal your bounty."

"NO."

"I'm not going to steal it. Just a uh, idle curiosity of what you're about."

"NO."

"Listen here, I have a sonic and I'm not afraid to use it," the Doctor warned as he gestured with the item in question.

The answer came immediately. "REQUEST ACCEPTED." The central seam on Epsilon's metal skirt cracked open and swung outward, clacking harmlessly on the nearby table. The action was followed by many clangs and clunks as large bits of metal and wires tumbled out from the confine of the armor.

There was so much material that the Doctor had to step back from the spill of objects. He stooped down to inspect the strange items. "This looks like...no. No... you didn't. I hazard to ask for a report."

"THE CYBERMAN DID NOT SURVIVE THE LYCAN ATTACK. TO LEAVE THE TECHNOLOGY WOULD BE WASTEFUL AND HAZARDOUS TO THE POPULACE."

"How did all that even fit?" Rose asked aloud. Cybermen were not exactly short compared to Daleks and the amount Epsilon was carrying far exceeded what he could fit in his profile.

"Bigger on the inside," the Doctor mentioned like it was the most obvious fact. He pulled at a large piece of gray fabric buried under the metal parts. "Oh, hello," he unburied Jack's coat from the debris and tossed it to aside.

"No offence, but that doesn't seem exactly safe."

"Nothing to fear, its not SIDRAT-sized or anything. Unless he messed with the programming," he glanced at Epsilon with more curiosity than he had before. "Excuse me." The Doctor poked his head and arm into the armor shell to double-check. Small sounds from the sonic screwdriver echoed inside the armor. "Not quite SIDRAT-sized, at the very least."

"THAT PROCEDURE TAKES TIME."

The Doctor withdrew and tucked his screwdriver back into a pocket. "Yeah, time. I need plenty of that to get us out of this mess. How's the throat coming, Rose?"

She took another swig to be safe, "Much better. A little confused, but better."

"Grand then we can start on the problem outside."

Rose motioned him to stop with an open hand. "Wait. Before we go off and get Jack, can you answer me one question?"

The Doctor looked back at her with knowing smugness. He had a whole universe of knowledge that he was willing to share at a moment's notice, like a living encyclopedia. "You may."

"Why does my throat keep burning like this?"

Suddenly the Doctor seemed reluctant to answer. His eyes became shifty and Rose sensed a feeling of guilt hanging over him. "Easy enough. It's a side-effect from the Vortex. Vortex particles bond really well with water particles. In fact, most of the Vortex consists of itself, water particles, and ionic pressure. It's kind of like a storm really, a big chaotic storm. Your body er, the human body, consists of around sixty percent water and the particles left over from the Vortex are just doing what comes naturally. Unfortunately, the process dries you out quickly and you have to replenish yourself or..." The Doctor paused, thinking over what he was about to say next. He played with a button on his left cuff in a detached way, "Your dry spells are happening closer together and in time they will overlap."

Rose's heart sped up at the news. "That's it then? I'm going to die?"

"Left untreated you will eventually die, yes, but you have yourself a doctor, and I happen to be an expert on getting Vortex exposure. Provided you are willing to put it all on the line, I may have a solution."

Tears bugged the corners of her eyes but she fought them back. She was determined to not lose more water than necessary. "What am I going to lose at this point?"

The Doctor clapped his hands together and stood up. His enthusiasm was back, full of charm and courage. "I like your spirit! Now that that's all settled, let's get our last mate back. Pull yourself together, Epsilon, we have a Lycan to trap."


	13. Chapter 13

**Not Your Average Doctor**

by fogdragon23

Disclaimer: I do not own the copyright to Doctor Who. It is property of the BBC. Please support the official release. Thank you.

* * *

**Chapter 13**

The Doctor danced back and forth from between the door and the controls, unsure of what order to do things. He hadn't been able to stand still since they got to the console room. "I wish there was more of me...wait, there's an idea! SIDRAT, upload Desktop Interface."

Rose had since switched from the bulky water container for a slimmer water bottle. She stayed close to Epsilon, knowing full well it had a tank of water inside, ready for her use.

A hologram fizzled to life next to the Doctor. The image was an exact copy of the Doctor but lacked expression. It appeared remarkably solid for what it was. "Interactive Interface is online," the hologram declared. "What is your request?"

"I need you to initiate the Diplomacy Program."

"Verbal password?"

"Everyone Lives."

"Password Accepted. Initiating telepathic download."

Thoughts of the Doctor's other regeneration filled Rose's mind. "Everyone lives?" she repeated, wishing that she were back at that time with her Doctor, her real Doctor.

"I really need to change that combination. What about 'Banana Daiquiris' or 'SIDRAT Rocks'? Oh! 'Long Live the Doctor'! That's clever!" He was silent for a moment, rethinking his decision, "Wait, no, that's rubbish! 'Everyone Lives' is good for now."

"Banana Daiquiris wasn't bad," Rose offered.

"Maybe later." The Doctor switched his activities to the consoles, fingers swiftly tapping various commands. A series of numbers blinked on the monitor before an image of a woman flashed onto the screen.

She wore the same uniform as the desk workers Rose met earlier. "Hello, you have reached the Detentionary Sect. How may I help you?"

The Doctor smiled back at the image and waved. "Hi, I am the Doctor and I would like to speak with the High Council at their soonest convenience."

The lady gazed back at him from the screen, her eyes slowly widening. "Oh, of course! One moment, please!" Then the screen went black.

"That'll keep them busy for awhile. Now, Interface, stand here," the Doctor pointed at where he was standing and shuffled out of the way when the hologram began to do so. "Very good, Epsilon, stand with him and Rose, come with me. We've got a wolf to catch."

"Sure, no problem." She tried to put herself in a positive mindset. The Doctor seemed sure of himself, so she tried to adopt the same outlook. She kept telling herself that everything was going to be fine; she was going to help Jack, and he was not going to maul her with monstrous teeth and claws. It wasn't that she was obsessed with safety, but being cautious had its perks to being dead. "What's the plan?"

The Doctor walked with her to the entrance of the SIDRAT and peeked out the small windows on the doors. He braced his back against the wood, ready to push back on it forcefully if he needed to. "There's something else I have to confess about Jack. Normally, Lycan hybrids crave the thing that turned them, so cannibalism isn't uncommon. However, Jack was turned by the Vortex which changed his lust from blood to time energy."

The pieces of information effortlessly clicked together in Rose's mind."He wasn't after those people at all, was he? He was only chasing us," she relayed.

The Doctor nodded seriously, "The Cyberman was fresh from the Void and he couldn't resist it."

"And I've been rolling in Void and Vortex particles since, well, ever," she said numbly. She had foolishly put herself in danger when she had knelt near Jack's body. He could have changed and torn her apart, right there. No wonder the Doctor was insistent that they ran when they did.

"Exactly," the Doctor whispered as an apology. His eyes showed a weariness that Rose could only guess was caused by the pressure of fixing everything at once. "The good news is Jack's movements are slower now, the drugs must be taking effect."

"And the bad news?" Rose asked, dreading the answer.

"We need to get him in here before the guard gets a chance to take him. I'm not too keen on leaving Jack behind this time." This sparked a myriad of questions in Rose's mind. He left Jack before? Where and why? The Doctor peered through the windows one last time, "All we need to do is lure him into a nice, quiet room. Too bad I had to jettison most of those on my last crash landing. The pool? Nah, there's books there..."

Rose chose to ignore the last comment, finding it too ridiculous to ask about. "You crashed the SIDRAT? How comforting."

The other made a face of mock hurt. "Well, I have my off days too. Not easy, saving the universe with a orange box and a pepper pot."

"You manage."

That earned a smile from the Doctor. "Alright, cheeky girl, you open the door and I'll take care of the running part." He stepped away from the double doors, not looking as confident as he sounded.

"I guess so, someone has to do the easy bit," Rose replied. "Good luck, my daffy Doctor." She twisted at the many locks and opened the doors.

The Doctor raised an eyebrow curiously, "Pardon?" He had little time to listen for explanation before Jack bounded through the entrance, snapping and growling. He jerked backward more out of instinct than careful planning, with the Lycan quick on his heels. His shoes pounded against the grated ramp that led to the consoles, the fabric of his coat flapping behind him. "Here, Jack!" he managed to snap, spinning once, to check that the Lycan was after him.

Jack had other plans. He jumped up to one of the struts that hung from the ceiling and began following the Doctor from the higher vantage. When the Doctor ran into the hallway, Jack didn't follow. Instead, he was distracted by the glow from the console's center. He approched the glass and began smacking it with a heavy paw-like hand.

The Doctor returned to the room, scowling. "Hey! Oi! You leave her alone! Remember what happened last time you broke into that!"

Epsilon turned in spot, facing Rose. "WE ARE MAKING CONNECTION WITH THE HIGH COUNCIL NOW."

"Oh what great timing," Rose muttered to herself. "Don't mind the big, scary werewolf in the belfry or the fact the Doctor has a twin." She approached the controls, joining the fake Doctor's side, opposite of Epsilon.

The monitor blared to life with the face of an older woman at its center. Her hair was silver-white with age and it was pulled back into a loose bun behind her head. She wore expensive silken robes of greens and yellows. Delicate lunar moths and leaves were stitched across her front, starting from her shoulders. She scanned the hologram Doctor up and down with sharp blue eyes, "Hello again, Doctor. You are speaking with High Council Member Mal. I fear we met all too briefly earlier."

The real Doctor visibly paled as he looked from the hologram to the giant Lycan attacking the time rotor. His shoulder brushed a low hanging strut and he visibly thought about climbing up to the ceiling himself.

The hologram adopted one of the Doctor's habits and started rocking on its heels. Rose guessed it had to do with the telepathic link that was mentioned earlier. "Yes, good to see you again, Lady Mal." Even the tone of the hologram had changed from really bland to a charming imitation of the Doctor. "I apologize for any for any inconvenience I caused by leaving like I did. Stuff kind of came up; lots of big, scary, life threatening...stuff. That all aside, may I ask the High Council to conduct our business now? You see, I have some things I need to attend to here in the SIDRAT." The hologram cringed at a particularly strong bang from Jack, "Oh, that didn't sound healthy-"

Mal shook her head, ignoring the last statement, "I am the only member available at the moment. I will record this message for later deliberation."

But the hologram was insistent. It leaned forward on the controls, a subconscious movement. "If we are ever going to resolve this, it's going to be now or not at all. You need to meet me halfway on this. Please. I tried representing myself before you on your terms, and I didn't even get a second glance."

"And I apologize for that, Doctor," Mal replied softly. "We have suffered a recent death in the Council. One of our newlyweds has passed on."

"The cause?"

"Unknown as of yet, she just collapsed and never got up."

"My condolences."

"Yes, but life must go on. The others are filtering through applications as we speak."

"Funny enough, after leaving your custody I acquired a fallen girl myself. She was being pursued by a Cyberman, I trust you have some information on them in your database. Could you enlighten me as to why there would be a Cyberman hiding in your city?"

"This is shocking news. We have no correlation with Cybus Industries aside from the information collected in our databases. We were under the assumption the Cybermen threat was dealt with by you on Earth."

"Yeah, so did I," the hologram mumbled quietly.

Rose checked on the real Doctor again. He was luckily still on the ground but he started pulling at his hair, nearing the end of his wits. "Excuse me, Doctor," she alerted the hologram before joining up with the other. "Your plan's not looking too hot," she whispered to the despairing Doctor. "What about a piece of meat or something?"

"Nah, he's too caught up in what he's doing to care. Our best bet is that he burns off enough adrenaline for the tranquilizer to kick in."

A large cracking sound distracted everyone from their tasks to look at Jack. He had a good portion of the central tube crunched into his wolfish maw, a long crack spidered down the glass like a jagged snake. The crack stopped just short of the hexagon of consoles, much to the relief of the two Doctors and Epsilon.

Epsilon immediately produced an instrument, that resembled a glue gun, from inside its shell and began spraying the soft solid across the face of the tube.

A large pink tongue emerged from Jack's dark muzzle as he lapped at the crack he made.

For lack of anything else close at hand, the Doctor chucked his sonic screwdriver at the Lycan. He was rewarded with a muffled smacking sound before the metal device plummeted back to him. He almost didn't catch it as it clacked across one of his knuckles instead of his palm. It spun in front of him haphazardly before he managed to catch it. He smiled at Rose sheepishly.

A small sound started above them and both the Doctor and Rose looked up fearfully. Jack was facing toward them now, his teeth were bared and so very sharp. "We uh, might want to not stand here for very long," the Doctor hinted.

The hologram did its best to continue the conversation without paying heed to any of the noise it heard. "I think it would be most effective for us to band together to investigate the Cybermen problem. Together we can cover much more ground and I would like to see your city's magnificent sites. I hear it's fantastic this time of year."

Mal made a pleased noise in her throat. "Yes, I think I can at least grant you temporary passage into the city."

"No guards," the hologram added.

"No added guard, but they will be advised to keep watch around you. Our citizens are worth more to us than you."

The false Doctor nodded with understanding. "Then we've reached an agreement. It's been good to be doing business with you. You can always reach me via this link, in case the full Council has any disagreements."

"Good day, Doctor," and the monitor went black.

The hologram looked up the rotor just in time to see freshly human Jack falling toward it. The image fizzled away before Jack's naked form struck the consoles. The SIDRAT jerked wildly to the left. Sparks spilled uselessly across the grates from the impact.

Epsilon pulled Jack's coat from it's inner shell and draped it over its owner.

Rose and the Doctor were quickly at Jack's side so that he couldn't roll onto the floor and hurt himself further. His slight movements conveyed that he was still conscious, if heavily medicated. His lips moved and he uttered something very softly. Rose inclined her head to hear him, "What was that?" But instead of repeating, she felt something warm and wet press against her cheek in one swift line.

The Doctor's face twisted in disgust. "Oi! That's dirty! You can't just lick people like that! On my controls, too!"

The other two could only smile and laugh at each other.


	14. Chapter 14

**Not Your Average Doctor**

by fogdragon23

Disclaimer: I do not own the copyright to Doctor Who. It is property of the BBC. Please support the official release. Thank you.

Author's Note: And now is the start of Epsilon having hyphens in its speak. As I said, I want to revamp all this so let's just pretend Epsilon has always spoken with hyphens for now. ;3

* * *

**Chapter 14**

The trio rushed Jack to the Medical Bay for analysis. Both Rose and the Doctor formed a silent pact to keep Jack's groin covered with his coat during the transfer. Rose was certain Jack wouldn't much mind, but it seemed so wrong when he was out of it. Epsilon pulled out a bed once they entered the room and they quickly deposited their friend onto the sheets. "How long will he be like this?" asked Rose.

The Doctor checked a few settings on his sonic screwdriver and scanned their downed friend. "He's got a pretty heavy dosage. I'd say about an hour if he doesn't fall asleep, which I fully expect him to."

"You...hit me with a... thing," Jack spoke up. His words were sluggish, but still audible.

The Doctor gestured with the device importantly, "It's a sonic screwdriver and yes, I did. It was to um, I thought uh...well, it distracted you from the time rotor."

"You got frustrated," Rose clarified.

"Yeah, maybe a bit, but that's beside the point. He...You," he switched his lecture back at the man in the bed, "bit my time rotor!" He fluffed his own hair with a hand, "Where am I going to find spare parts?"

"AN IM-MEDIATE FIX IS RE-QUIRED-"

"I know, I know. Just um, give me a minute... What would carry parts for an old Type-40?" He clicked his tongue on his teeth, scrambling for the elusive answer. "Utah! Wait, no. That place is not worth the risk. Hm, there's that salvage planet in Messier 83, it's not the prime alternative, but I guess it'll have to do."

"Worry too much more, and you'll lose your hair," Rose commented in jest. She felt a small pressure her side, and looked down at the owner of the hand. Jack didn't meet her gaze, instead interested by something at the corner of the room. She turned and produced a small, "Oh." What she saw was an empty bed; sheets, mattress, everything. All that remained was the bare metal frame that had held up the cot. Yet the most interesting part was not the missing components, but the thing hanging above the bed, suspended from the ceiling by some sort of knotted substance. "Doctor?" It vaguely reminded Rose of a spider egg sack she'd seen in a documentary once, only much bigger. In fact, she was certain the strange sack could have fit two of her inside it.

"Hm?" the Doctor spun in place, picking up very quickly that there was something worth his notice on the other end of the room. "Oh, hello lovely. How did you get here?"

Rose let out a breath she was holding."Your patient appears to have a little something on her...everything." They cautiously took a step toward the ceiling's new decoration, flanking it.

The Doctor gave it a quick scan over. "Yup, she's definitely in there, bed and all. I can't imagine that was supposed to happen." He scraped the side of the object, a trail of residue clung to his fingers as he drew them away. His lips tipped into a child-like smile and he promptly put the goo into his mouth.

"That was a smidge gross," Rose remarked, feeling herself turn green.

The Doctor swirled the substance around his mouth with his tongue. "Organic," he assessed, brows raising, "and very, very salty. Huh, it's got the same consistency as human skin. Well - not just human skin, there's dashes of plant-life and minerals in there. Fascinating!"

"You just made it worse," Rose responded with disgust. She took another drink from her water bottle, more to keep from getting nauseous than because of throat issues.

"Come now, it's nothing dangerous – completely non-toxic actually. You can have yourself a sample too, if you want."

"I'll pass, thanks."

The Doctor shrugged passively, "Suit yourself."

"MY READ-INGS INDICATE THIS IS A TRANS-I-TIONAL PHASE IN THE LIFE-CYCLE OF THIS HU-MAN."

"How so?" the Doctor asked, becoming more and more interested in this turn of events. "Humans don't make cocoons or whatever this is. Hm, 'whatever' I haven't used that in awhile. It's not an entirely displeasing feel on the tongue..."

"Doctor," Rose sighed.

"Right! Cocoons and humans! Epsilon, is she showing any signs of stress? Increased heartbeat, erratic movement, vocalizations? Anything of that order?"

"NEGATIVE. SUB-JECT IS ASLEEP."

"Great, where does that put me? The High Council had a death on their end, yet this girl is still alive but unconscious. They appeared just as shocked as we are, and that crowd from earlier didn't have any idea what was going on. Why would a Cyberman want a girl that was going to spontaneously cocoon herself within the hour?"

"It did say something about a 'perfect template'," Rose recalled, trying to keep up with his racing mind.

"Hm, but there were so many other people there that would have done just as well. There must be something that the Cyberman wants that only she can give. Perhaps a mutated gene? Epsilon, I want a full analysis on her; heart, blood, genetic make-up, all of it. Send any findings to the SIDRAT's database."

"I OBEY."

"I'll need that all as quick as you can manage. Meanwhile, I really feel like I'm forgetting something excruciatingly important." The Doctor suddenly looked very uneasy as his mind tallied up all that he had accomplished and all he still needed to accomplish. He was nearly back out the door before he yelled, "The time rotor!"

* * *

The console room appeared just as it was before but murkier, like a light fog had rolled in while they were away. It was almost impossible to make out the frame of the entrance through the thick vapors. The Doctor rushed to the controls and touched the odd substance Epsilon had sprayed over the crack. "It's not enough," he uttered to the room, concern tinting his voice. "She's leaking everywhere."

"What exactly does that mean?" Rose queried, timidly.

"I can't replace this!" the Doctor snapped impatiently, making her jump. He shook his head as if resisting an invisible force, "Very sorry, Rose. Um, take light breaths and don't come near the controls. The time rotor is leaking time particles. It's nothing serious - well, provided I can keep a level head."

Rose spoke very plainly, "You feel wrong, Doctor."

"I know." The Doctor wiped away a bead of sweat from his brow. "The TARDI...S-SIDRAT is trying to heal itself with the time energy, but the anti-materialization field is blocking her. She's trying to use me to close the crack... and she's found a rather unique way of getting my attention." He spun a couple dials with caution. His hand closed over a coralled lever. "Listen close, whatever happens in the next few minutes; do not touch me, I'm not going to be stable enough to handle physical contact with someone from a parallel universe. It might make me do something..."

Rose searched for a word that would fit in the Doctor's last sentence. "Stupid?"

"Regretful," he corrected. He glanced at her over his shoulder, perhaps one last search for courage and pulled the lever. His attention was diverted as golden ripples washed over his fingers and travelled under the sleeves of his jacket. He pitched forward, and suddenly the fog in the room pulsed rings of gold, with him at its center.

It took Rose a few moments to realize the fog was pulling itself toward him, leaving her untouched. The fog erupted with another strong pulse and the Doctor wiped his hand over the face of the time rotor. The particles rushed to follow his hand, burying themselves into the tube. The glass shook and shivered against the metal of the consoles until all of the fog was contained. The only evidence of the Vortex escaping was a vein of gold that replaced the SIDRAT's wound. Gold faded into the glass as the last of it dissipated, leaving not even a chip in its wake.

The Doctor regained his footing but his legs shook as he supported himself. "Yes, one day..." he muttered under his breath. Slowly, he sank to a sitting position on the floor, stretching his long legs across the metal floor.

Rose was hesitant. Did she really want to risk talking to the Doctor after such a dramatic event? He told her touching him was off limits, so talking was still fair game, right? She picked her way across the grates, carefully staying a good distance away from him. "Do you need anything?"

He was still staring where the crack used to be. It was the same sort of stare a person got when watching the telly; studious but hypnotized in what was happening on the screen. "Jelly babies," he answered mildly. "I had completely forgotten how much I liked those little candies."

Oh crazy Doctor, was it? "I think you need some water," she decided, offering him her handy water bottle. "S'got my germs all over it though." She nearly bolted when the Doctor turned his head toward her. It was so even and automatic, reminding her very eerily of Autons and Daleks. He was beyond inhuman, he felt mechanic. "Come on," she prodded, giving the water bottle an encouraging shake.

He stared at the offered water blandly, not quite cluing in what she wanted him to do with it.

She continued to offer it, but eventually gave up at his reluctance to take it. "If you don't want it, you could just say so. Now, what else is going on in that swelled head of yours?"

"Rest is for the weary, sleep is for the dead," he stated.

"Okay, you really don't seem well. How about we go to the kitchen and have some chips?" Rose dared to do it, go against the Doctor's wishes. Her fingers hooked around the fabric covering the upper part of this left arm. Only instead of her helping him to his feet, he pulled back and she nearly fell over from the force. Her water bottle fell from her grasp and half rolled, half bounced across the floor. "Doc-"

"Shhh," he said, just barely above a whisper. "Would you dance with me?" His inflections were returning, all cheer and enthusiasm. He gave her a mischievous grin before standing, and pulling her into a warm embrace.

Rose pulled away and looked up his height. "This makes no sense. What happened, just then? You keep changing on me..."

The Doctor left a hand on her back, but withdrew the other. He waggled the empty fingers invitingly where she could see them. "I can explain, provided you do me this one little thing. Agreed?"

"Alright, I'll bite," Rose answered, lacing her fingers with his. At first, their movements were uncoordinated and she unceremoniously stepped on his left foot twice. Even with all their difficulties, a pattern became shared between them and they were able to glide around the console room. "So where's my explanation?"

"Someone knows how to ruin a good time," the Doctor mocked after taking a deliberate sniff.

"I think I'd have more fun if there was some music playing," she remarked back. Rose liked to dance, whether fast or slow, but it was hard to keep synchronized rhythm without a audible cue.

"Hm, good point," he returned thoughtfully. "How about..." Something in the console clicked and some really fanciful violins started to play from a hidden speaker.

"Just now..." she started.

"Yes?"

"You turned on music without touching anything."

He rolled his tongue between his teeth cheekily. "Yeah, I did."

"Since when?" she asked, tilting her head curiously.

He shrugged a shoulder, "Since now. The SIDRAT needed my regenerative energy so we organized a little swap between us. Her wound is gone and I have a little better manual control. Seemed like a fair trade when I did it. That nasty spell I had was...well, the easiest explanation is that I rebooted? I had to recall all of my memories and learn all the new tricks that the SIDRAT has given me. It was a lot to take in at one time. Sorry, I must have been dreadful company!"

Rose got hung up on his wording, "Wait, so Time Lords are like computers?"

This made the Doctor laugh and break their shared dance, "Time Lords are like Time Lords!" His mouth opened for another comment, but his attention snapped to the center of the room. He politely bowed away from their dance and attended the monitor. He tapped a few keys on the keyboard under the display. "The SIDRAT has just given me an interesting insight into what that Cyberman was doing. When it said 'perfect template', I assumed it meant humans because they have been one of the most compatible species for the Cybermen to convert. But Cybermen are always looking for an upgrade that is better, faster, stronger."

"Well the natives here are human, right?

"Yeah, but these humans appear to be on the brink of an important evolutionary path." His gaze landed on her again, this time filled with excitement. "Our patient in medical bay is showing signs of changing in big ways." He turned the monitor so that she could see the strings of readouts.

She could barely read anything before the information blinked to something else. "That does sound exciting," Rose replied, a smile rising on her lips as well. His joy could be so infectious sometimes. "I never thought evolution could happen like this though." Science class was always very clear that even the smallest changes took millions of years to happen. Their mystery girl was changing even as they spoke.

"Normally you would be right," the Doctor agreed. "Something has sped up the process immensely."

"So what's the next step?" she asked.

"Can't do much here," he answered simply. "Not until that cocoon in Med-Bay is more developed. Do you want to, um...would you like it if...sorry." He cleared his throat roughly, "Would you like to see the city with me?"

The blonde shook her head at his cute display. An instant later she realized the small movement had been noticed and he was taking it in the opposite way. "I would love to," she said quickly. "I was disappointed to see only part of the market earlier." Was that a tint of pink in his cheeks?

"Brilliant!"


End file.
